Austria sanctions Bitpanda, first penalty under MiCA

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Austria’s financial regulator has fined digital asset platform Bitpanda €70,000 ($81,047) in connection with “several violations” of the European Union’s (EU) Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, in the watchdog’s first published penalty under the framework.

On August 14, the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA)—Austria’s top finance watchdog and the country’s National Competent Authority (NCA) under MiCA—imposed a fine of EUR 70,000 on Bitpanda, a digital asset firm that acts as a broker for stocks, crypto, indices, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and precious metals.

According to the regulator, Bitpanda was fined for failing to submit a crypto-asset white paper to the FMA at least 20 working days before the day of its publication—a violation of MiCA’s Article 8. The firm also disseminated marketing communication without having previously published the required crypto-assets white paper, contrary to Article 7 paragraph 2 of MiCA.

Under MiCA, anyone seeking to offer to the public a crypto-asset—other than an asset-referenced token (ART) or e-money token (EMT)—must submit their crypto asset white paper to the NCA of their home Member State and publish the white paper, both of which must be done before any marketing material is published related to the crypto-asset.

The marketing material, when published, must also include a telephone number and an email address to contact the offeror, the individual seeking admission to trading, or the operator of the trading platform, and contain the following clear and prominent statement:

“This crypto-asset marketing communication has not been reviewed or approved by any competent authority in any Member State of the European Union. The offeror of the crypto-asset is solely responsible for the content of this crypto-asset marketing communication.”

All of which the FMA said Bitpanda failed to do, with the former confirming that “the sentence is final.”

“MiCAR serves to create a uniform legal framework for crypto-assets throughout the Union and aims in particular to protect investors and ensure the integrity of crypto markets,” the watchdog said.

For its part, Bitpanda told news outlet Cointelegraph on Monday that the issues related exclusively to the timing and formal requirements surrounding the publication of the white paper and an accompanying information document.

The firm reportedly said it rectified the issues after receiving notice from the FMA, adding that customer funds and platform security were unaffected and that customers suffered no financial harm.

As of the most recent update to the MiCA register, Austria has authorized eleven crypto asset service providers (CASPs) to date, including Bitpanda, Bybit, KuCoin EU, AMINA EU, and Coinfinity.

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