Austria sanctions Bitpanda, first penalty under MiCA

Homepage > News > Finance > Austria sanctions Bitpanda, first penalty under MiCA 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...