Austrian Regulator Imposes First Public MiCA Fine on Bitpanda
The Austrian FMA has imposed a 70,000 euro penalty on Bitpanda for violations of MiCA regulations related to white paper submission requirements and marketing materials.
The financial oversight authority in Austria has imposed a 70,000 euro ($82,000) penalty on cryptocurrency exchange Bitpanda for breaching the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation of the European Union, marking the regulator's first publicly disclosed final sanction under MiCA rules.
According to a Friday announcement from the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA), Bitpanda did not file a crypto-asset white paper with the regulatory body at least 20 working days prior to making it public, which is a mandatory requirement under MiCA regulations.
The crypto platform additionally released a marketing communication prior to making the mandatory white paper available to the public, the regulatory authority stated.
According to the FMA, a separate marketing communication failed to include required disclosures indicating that no competent authority had reviewed or given approval to the material and that the crypto-asset provider bore full responsibility for the content. The communication was also missing a mandatory telephone number and email address contact information.
The case was settled through an expedited procedure, with the penalty decision now being legally final.
Bitpanda was reached out to by Cointelegraph for a statement but had not provided a response at the time of publication.
The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation has created a unified regulatory structure for digital assets throughout the EU, encompassing disclosure obligations, marketing standards and authorization requirements for cryptocurrency businesses.