Status: Austria’s MiCAR Enforcement Act, formally the MiCA-Verordnung-Vollzugsgesetz (MiCA-VVG), is an Austrian federal act that has been in force since July 20, 2024. The Act was published as part of Federal Law Gazette I No. 111/2024 and provides the national enforcement layer for Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on markets in crypto-assets.
The MiCA-VVG does not replace the EU MiCAR regime. Instead, it identifies the Austrian authorities and procedures used to supervise MiCAR obligations in Austria, including authorisation, disclosure, marketing, stablecoin-related obligations, crypto-asset service provider conduct, market-abuse controls, sanctions, appeals and cost recovery.
Austria MiCAR Enforcement Act overview
The Act designates the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) as the competent authority for Austria under MiCAR Article 93(1). The FMA is responsible for exercising the powers assigned to competent authorities under MiCAR and for monitoring compliance with the MiCA-VVG, MiCAR and related delegated or implementing acts. The Act also requires the FMA to take account of European supervisory convergence and to apply relevant EBA and ESMA guidelines, recommendations and measures unless justified grounds support a departure.
For asset-referenced token and e-money token issuers that are credit institutions or e-money institutions, the Act sets cooperation rules between the FMA and the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB). It also preserves roles that may belong to the European Central Bank or to the OeNB under separate banking and payment-system legislation.
Key provisions of the MiCA-VVG
- Competent authority: The FMA is Austria’s MiCAR supervisory authority and is given responsibility for monitoring compliance with national and EU MiCAR rules.
- Supervisory powers: The Act authorises the FMA to request information, inspect books and records, obtain existing communications records, suspend or prohibit crypto-asset services, restrict offers or admissions to trading, suspend trading, and address non-compliant marketing communications.
- Risk and breach measures: The FMA may order temporary measures to avert risks to fulfilment of obligations and may require corrective action where breaches are identified.
- Administrative offences: The Act sets penalties for breaches involving white papers, marketing communications, asset-referenced tokens, e-money tokens, CASP obligations and market abuse.
- Publication and appeals: Sanctions and other administrative measures are generally published by the FMA, subject to proportionality safeguards, and FMA decisions may be challenged before the Federal Administrative Court.
Status, transition and timeline
The National Council introduced the measure on June 13, 2024 and passed it on July 3, 2024. The Federal Council decided on July 10, 2024 not to raise an objection. The Act was published in the Federal Law Gazette on July 19, 2024 and entered into force the following day.
The Act included a transitional rule for certain providers that had already provided services before December 30, 2024 as registered virtual-currency service providers under Austria’s Financial Markets Anti-Money Laundering Act. Those providers could continue until December 31, 2025 or until they received a MiCAR authorisation or refusal under Article 63, whichever occurred first.
Later consolidated materials from the FMA state that amendments published in Federal Law Gazette I No. 5/2026 add ESAP-related MiCA-VVG provisions. Those provisions include a future requirement for the FMA to notify ESMA by January 9, 2030 that it is the ESAP collection body, with specified ESAP-related provisions applying from January 10, 2030.
Jurisdictional impact
For CryptoSlate readers, the MiCA-VVG is best understood as Austria’s domestic enforcement statute for the EU MiCAR framework. It is most relevant to Austrian crypto-asset service providers, issuers of asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens, persons offering or seeking admission to trading of crypto-assets, and market participants subject to MiCAR market-abuse rules. This profile is an editorial legal-reference summary and is not legal, tax, investment or trading advice.
