Austria Fines Bitpanda 70,000 Euros in First MiCA Crypto Penalty

Key Takeaways

• Austria fined Bitpanda 70K euros for missing a whitepaper deadline, marking the first penalty under EU’s MiCA.
• The historic penalty signals that MiCA regulation has shifted from mere supervision to active enforcement.
• The fine sparked criticism, raising questions about Bitpanda’s trustworthiness and regulatory compliance.

Austria Fines Bitpanda for MiCA-related Violations

While the grandfathering period for the full implementation of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework ended on July 1, 2026, the first registered penalty against an exchange has been issued in Austria, marking the start of a new era of oversight for the crypto industry in the EU.

On August 14, the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) disclosed it had imposed a 70,000 euros ($80,304) fine on Bitpanda, one of the first exchanges to receive a MiCA licence from Germany’s Bafin in January 2025 and from Austria’s FMA in April 2025.

FMA declared that Bitpanda failed to comply with MiCA Article 8, failing to notify the institution of a cryptocurrency whitepaper at least 20 days before its admission to trading. In addition, the FMA also issued a marketing notice without having previously published the required crypto whitepaper, contrary to what MiCA Article 1 establishes.