Bitpanda fined €70,000 in Austria’s first published MiCA enforcement case

On Monday, Austria’s Financial Market Authority (FMA) imposed a fine of 70,000 euros on Bitpanda GmbH for violating the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. This marks the first enforcement case under MiCA in Austria. The FMA alleged that Bitpanda failed to provide a cryptocurrency white paper at least 20 working days before its publication.

The regulator did not specify which cryptocurrency the fine pertained to. Additionally, Bitpanda distributed a marketing communication prior to submitting the required white paper. Furthermore, another communication was found lacking a statement that regulators had not reviewed or approved the document, and it omitted a statement that the provider bore sole responsibility for its content, along with a phone number and email address.

Bitpanda responded to CoinDesk in an emailed statement that the regulator's findings "related exclusively to timing and formal specifications surrounding the publication of the whitepaper and an accompanying information document." The firm stated that it prepared a comprehensive whitepaper in accordance with MiCA requirements, submitted it to the FMA, and continuously coordinated the process with the authority.

The white paper was submitted early last year. Bitpanda noted that it rectified the issues following the FMA's notification and settled the proceedings through an expedited process under Austria’s Financial Market Authority Act, with the penalty being final. This fineset targets one of Europe’s leading crypto brokers. As of the end of 2025, Bitpanda had 7.4 million registered users, a 25% increase from the previous year, and 371 million euros in adjusted revenue.

The Vienna-based company has been expanding beyond Europe by offering trading, custody, and tokenization infrastructure to banks and fintech companies. Bitpanda obtained a MiCA license from Germany’s BaFin last year, enabling it to serve customers across the European Economic Area.