FMA Targets Bitpanda Over Whitepaper and Marketing Breaches
Bitpanda faces a €70,000 FMA fine for MiCAR breaches involving crypto-asset whitepaper timing and marketing disclosures.
Austria’s Financial Market Authority (FMA) has fined Bitpanda GmbH €70,000 for violations of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR). The regulator announced the sanction on August 14 and said the proceeding was concluded on an accelerated basis under Section 22(2b) of Austria’s Financial Market Authority Act, according to the FMA notice.
The decision is legally binding. The case is among the first legally binding penalties issued under the MiCAR framework and marks an enforcement action under rules designed to establish a uniform legal framework for crypto-assets across the European Union.
The Violations Behind the Fine
The FMA identified several breaches involving a crypto-asset whitepaper and an associated marketing communication. Bitpanda did not submit the crypto-asset whitepaper to the regulator at least 20 working days before its publication, as required under Article 8(1) and 8(5) of MiCAR.
The company also distributed a marketing communication before publishing the required crypto-asset whitepaper, which the FMA identified as a breach of Article 7(2). In addition, the marketing communication omitted information required under Article 7(1).
According to the FMA, the omitted information included a statement that the communication had not been reviewed or approved by an authority and that the offeror was solely responsible for its content. The communication also did not include a telephone number and an email address.
A Legally Binding MiCAR Sanction
The FMA imposed the €70,000 monetary sanction after identifying the whitepaper-filing, publication and marketing-disclosure failures. The regulator’s notice sets out the relevant MiCAR provisions and specifies the procedural basis on which the matter was concluded.
The case centers on requirements that apply before and alongside the publication of a crypto-asset whitepaper. It shows that compliance obligations under MiCAR extend to the timing of regulatory submissions and the information contained in marketing communications, not solely to broader authorization and supervisory processes.
MiCAR Moves Into Enforcement
The FMA described the case as a sign that MiCAR has moved beyond licensing and supervision into active enforcement. The framework is intended to provide a consistent EU-wide legal structure for crypto-assets, while the FMA has emphasized that transparency and investor-protection rules are part of that structure.
The FMA published the sanction on August 14, 2026, after MiCAR’s transition period ended on July 1, 2026. The Bitpanda decision records enforcement under the regulation following the end of that transition period.
What the Decision Covers
The FMA’s published findings concern the submission and publication of a crypto-asset whitepaper and the contents of a marketing communication. The notice identifies the relevant provisions of Articles 7 and 8 of MiCAR and records the resulting monetary penalty.
For market participants, the decision underscores the importance of meeting the framework’s specific procedural requirements. In this case, the findings involved failing to submit a whitepaper within the prescribed period, distributing marketing material before publishing the required whitepaper, and failing to include mandated disclosures and contact details in that material.
What Comes Next
The FMA’s ruling is legally binding. Its publication provides a detailed example of how the Austrian regulator is applying MiCAR provisions governing crypto-asset whitepapers and marketing communications.
Following the end of MiCAR’s transition period, the case places attention on how regulated firms implement the framework’s filing, publication and disclosure requirements in practice.
