Austria · Licensing

MiCA Licence in Austria
Issuing Tokens and Filing a White Paper

We prepare Austrian token issues for the FMA: the authorisation where MiCA requires one, the white paper where it does not, and the Austrian company that has to exist before either.

MiCA splits a token issue three ways, not one (Arts. 16, 48 and 4)
Asset-referenced token authorisation: state fee EUR 11,250 (Tarifpost III.O.1)
Token issuer own funds floor: EUR 350,000 (Art. 35(1))
A white paper is notified, not approved (Art. 8(3))

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Vienna business district at street level on a working weekday morning.

Which MiCA permission you actually need

Most people searching for a MiCA licence in Austria want the authorisation to run an exchange, a custody service or a trading platform. That is a crypto-asset service provider authorisation under Article 59 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, and it has its own page: crypto license austria.

This page is about the other side of MiCA, the side that applies when you issue the token rather than handle somebody else's. There the Regulation does not ask one question but three, and the answer decides whether you need an authorisation, a licence you must already hold, or only a document filed twenty working days before you publish it.

What you are doing	What MiCA requires	Who may do it	Provision
Issuing a token that tracks a basket, a commodity, a right, or more than one currency	Authorisation as an issuer of asset-referenced tokens	a legal person or other undertaking established in the Union, authorised by the FMA; or a credit institution under Art. 17	Art. 16(1) with Art. 21
Issuing a token that tracks one official currency	No separate MiCA authorisation. You must already be a credit institution or an electronic money institution, then notify and publish a white paper	credit institution or e-money institution	Art. 48(1); E-Geldgesetz 2010 § 3
Issuing any other crypto-asset, a utility token included	No authorisation. A white paper, notified and published	any legal person	Art. 4 with Arts. 6, 8 and 9
Exchanging, holding, executing, placing, transferring or advising on other people's crypto-assets	Crypto-asset service provider authorisation	covered on the crypto licence page	Art. 59

The definitions that decide the row are in Article 3(1)(6) and (7) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114: an e-money token references the value of one official currency, an asset-referenced token references anything else or any combination. The FMA is the competent Austrian authority for all four rows (§ 1 Abs. 1 MiCA-VVG, BGBl. I Nr. 111/2024 as amended by BGBl. I Nr. 5/2026).

What we do on an Austrian token issue, and what we do not

The Austrian company that will hold the permission.

Usually a GmbH: share capital EUR 10,000 (§ 6 Abs. 1 GmbHG) and Firmenbuch court fees of EUR 47 plus EUR 475 from 1 August 2026 (Gerichtsgebührengesetz Tarifpost 10 Z I, BGBl. II Nr. 227/2026). The process is on gmbh in austria, and there is no applicant until the company is on the register.

Classifying the token before anything is drafted.

Asset-referenced, e-money, or neither. The classification decides the route, the capital, the fee and the document set, and Article 18(2)(e) requires a legal opinion on exactly that question.

The Article 18(2) authorisation file.

Eighteen heads of information for an asset-referenced token, from the legal entity identifier and the articles to the governance arrangements, the ICT safeguards and the complaints procedure.

The white paper, and its marketing.

Ten heads of content under Article 6, Annex I in full, the mandatory statements, the summary and a machine-readable file. Marketing is drafted to Article 7 and published with it.

The notification, and what follows it.

Filing to the FMA as home authority with the Article 8(4) explanation of why the asset is neither excluded under Article 2(4) nor either kind of token, then the answers to whatever the authority asks next.

Four things we do not do.

We do not grant or guarantee an authorisation: only the FMA decides, and Article 21(2) lists five grounds on which it must refuse. We do not promise a decision date. We hold no banking or e-money licence. We do not advise on your own tax position, which Austrian law reserves to a licensed Steuerberater.

Asset-referenced tokens how the FMA authorisation runs

This is the only token MiCA requires you to be authorised to issue. The route runs through Articles 18, 20 and 21, and two more institutions have a say in it than in the service provider route.

Settle the classification.

Article 18(2)(e) requires a legal opinion that the token is neither excluded under Article 2(4) nor an e-money token. That opinion is the first document, not the last.

Test the small-issue exemption.

Article 16(2) disapplies the authorisation where the average outstanding value, at the end of each calendar day over 12 months, never exceeds EUR 5,000,000 and the issuer is not in a network of exempt issuers, or where only qualified investors may hold it. A white paper is still notified.

Put the applicant in place.

A legal person or other undertaking established in the Union, or a credit institution proceeding under Article 17 instead. It needs a legal entity identifier, articles and a programme of operations first.

Build the eighteen heads of Article 18(2).

Governance, the repute and experience of every management body member and qualifying holder, business continuity, internal control and risk, ICT safeguards, complaints, the white paper and the host member states.

File, and clear the completeness gate.

Receipt is acknowledged in writing within 2 working days (Art. 18(4)). Completeness is assessed within 25 working days, and the authority sets a deadline for anything missing (Art. 20(1)).

The assessment, and the opinions the FMA waits for.

A reasoned draft decision within 60 working days of a complete application (Art. 20(2)), then 20 working days for EBA, ESMA and the ECB to opine (Art. 20(4) and (5)). A request for missing information suspends the period by no more than 20 working days.

The decision.

Granted or refused within 25 working days of those opinions, notified within a further 5 (Art. 21(1)). On a grant the white paper is deemed approved and the authorisation is valid throughout the Union. Article 21(4) makes refusal mandatory where the ECB or the relevant central bank objects on monetary grounds.

Two things are true at once here, and a quoted number of months collapses them. The periods above are statutory limits on the authority, and they start only once the application is complete. They are not a forecast, and we give no timeline of our own: what moves a real file is the completeness gate, and the legal opinion that keeps it from stalling before the gate.

Austria · asset-referenced token

The Article 18 to 21 clock, and where it starts

Stage 00 · the file

The application is lodged. Nothing below runs until it is complete.

2 working days
Receipt acknowledgedMiCA Art. 18
25 working days
Completeness checkedMiCA Art. 18

→ The completeness gate. Every period below is counted from a complete application

60 working days
Draft decision, counted from a complete applicationMiCA Art. 20

Then the opinion round, three authorities in parallel

EBA
Opinion within 20 working days
ESMA
Opinion within 20 working days
ECB
Opinion within 20 working days

25 working days
The decision, counted from the opinionsMiCA Art. 21
5 working days
Notification of the decisionMiCA Art. 21

Branch off the assessment: a request for further information suspends the period by no more than 20 working days.

These are statutory limits on the authority, not a forecast. No duration of ours appears in this graphic, and a quoted number of months would collapse two different things: the limit, and the time a file takes to become complete.

Acknowledgement 2 working days, completeness check 25, draft decision 60 working days from a complete application, opinions from EBA, ESMA and the ECB 20, decision 25 working days after those opinions, notification a further 5, and a suspension of up to 20 working days while further information is awaited.

Not sure whether your token is an ART, an EMT or neither?

Send the token's mechanics, what it references and who may hold it. You get the route, the capital figure and the document list in writing.

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E-money tokens the licence comes before the token

A token that tracks a single official currency is not a lighter case. It is a different case, because MiCA creates no permission for it at all. It sends you to a licence you must already hold.

Who may issue one.

Article 48(1)(a) allows only a credit institution or an authorised electronic money institution. No standalone MiCA authorisation exists to apply for, so the Austrian route starts at e-money license austria rather than here.

What Austrian law adds.

Issuing e-money commercially needs an FMA licence as an E-Geld-Institut (E-Geldgesetz 2010 § 3 Abs. 1), and such an institution is "eine juristische Person mit Sitz und Hauptverwaltung im Inland": a legal person with its seat and head office in Austria, not a registered address.

The capital, from the Austrian side.

Common Equity Tier 1 may at no time fall below EUR 350,000 (§ 11 Abs. 1), and own funds for the issue of e-money must be at least 2 percent of average outstanding e-money: end-of-day totals averaged over six calendar months, recomputed monthly (§ 11 Abs. 3 Z 2, Methode D).

What the token itself has to do.

Issued at par on receipt of funds, redeemable at any time at par, and redemption may not be charged for (Art. 49). No interest, and no benefit tied to how long a holder holds, from the issuer or from a service provider dealing in it (Art. 50).

Where the money sits, and when the authority is told.

At least 30 percent of funds received sits in separate accounts at credit institutions, the rest in secure, low-risk, highly liquid instruments in the referenced currency (Art. 54). The FMA is notified at least 40 working days before the offer (Art. 48(6)).

The white paper for everything else, and when nothing has to be authorised

The largest group and the least written about: a token that is neither asset-referenced nor e-money. No authorisation exists for it. What exists is a document, a deadline, and duties binding whoever offers it.

Seven cumulative conditions: a legal person, a white paper under Art. 6, notified under Art. 8, published under Art. 9, marketing under Art. 7 and Art. 9, and Art. 14 (Art. 4(1)).
Ten heads of content, specified in Annex I, ending with the climate impact of the consensus mechanism (Art. 6(1)).
A first-page statement that no competent authority has approved it and the offeror alone is responsible (Art. 6(3)).
No assertion about future value, plus six risk statements, among them that no investor compensation or deposit guarantee scheme covers the asset (Art. 6(4) and (5)).
A non-technical summary with four warnings, including that this is not a prospectus under Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (Art. 6(7)).
An official language, or one customary in international finance, in a machine-readable format (Art. 6(9) and (10)).
Notified 20 working days before publication, with the Art. 8(4) explanation of why it is neither excluded under Art. 2(4) nor either kind of token.
Three exemptions from the white paper limb: under 150 persons per member state acting on their own account; under EUR 1,000,000 over 12 months; or qualified investors only (Art. 4(2)).
Four cases outside Title II: offered free; created automatically as a reward for maintaining the ledger or validating transactions; a utility token for a good or service already in operation; or a limited merchant network (Art. 4(3)).
"Free" is not free where purchasers give personal data, or the offeror takes any fee, commission or benefit (Art. 4(3)).
Every exemption falls away once an intention to seek admission to trading is made known, and a voluntary white paper brings all of Title II (Art. 4(4) and (8)).
After publication: results within 20 working days of the end of the subscription period, units in circulation monthly if open-ended, funds back within 25 calendar days if cancelled (Arts. 10 and 14(3)).

A crypto-asset white paper being drafted and checked before notification. — One deadline decides the schedule: the white paper reaches the authority twenty working days before it reaches the public, and the authority does not approve it (Art. 8(3) and (5)).

What the Austrian state charges to decide a token file

These are state fees payable to the FMA, fixed by an Austrian ordinance and graded by the act asked for. Our own fee is not published on this site. Read the two verbs in the middle column: the tariff prices an approval for one kind of white paper and a deposit for the others, which is the Regulation showing through.

Tarifpost	What it prices	EUR
III.O.1	grant of an authorisation to issue asset-referenced tokens, Art. 16(1)(a) with Art. 21	11,250
III.O.2	approval of an asset-referenced token white paper, Art. 17(1) or Art. 21(1)	2,500
III.O.3	approval of a modification to a published asset-referenced token white paper, Art. 25(2)	625
III.O.4	non-objection to a qualifying holding in an issuer, per interested acquirer, Art. 41	625
III.O.5	processing the notification of an issuer's recovery plan, Art. 46	625
III.O.6	processing the notification of a redemption plan, per token, Art. 47	625
III.O.7	grant of an authorisation to issue e-money tokens, Art. 48 with E-Geldgesetz 2010 § 3 Abs. 1 and § 4 Abs. 4	11,250
III.O.8	deposit of an e-money token white paper, Art. 51(11)	940
III.O.9	deposit of a modified e-money token white paper, Art. 51(12)	625
III.O.10	processing the notification of an e-money token issuer's recovery plan, Art. 46 with Art. 55	625
III.O.11	processing the notification of a redemption plan, per e-money token, Art. 47 with Art. 55	625
III.O.12	deposit of a white paper for any other crypto-asset, Art. 8(1)	940
III.O.13	deposit of a modified white paper for any other crypto-asset, Art. 12(2)	625

Two statutes reach the same two numbers by different routes. Article 35(1) sets an asset-referenced token issuer's floor at EUR 350,000 and 2 percent of the reserve; E-Geldgesetz 2010 § 11, Austria implementing Directive 2009/110/EC, sets an e-money institution's floor at EUR 350,000 and 2 percent of average outstanding e-money.

FMA-Gebührenverordnung, BGBl. II Nr. 230/2004 as last amended by BGBl. II Nr. 130/2026, Anlage 1, Tarifpost III.O.1 to III.O.13, in the version in force from 6 June 2026, read at source on 17 September 2026. The German the ordinance uses is the point: Genehmigung, approval, for an asset-referenced token white paper; Hinterlegung, deposit, for the others. The FMA's annual supervisory costs are a separate, after-the-event apportionment under § 22 MiCA-VVG that reaches token issuers as well as service providers, and they are not a fixed figure.

Austria · MiCA Art. 35(1)

Three legs, and the requirement is the largest of them at all times

A · A fixed floor
EUR 350,000
The amount is in the article itself.
MiCA Art. 35(1)(a)
B · A moving leg
2 per cent of the average reserve of assets
Not quantified here: the average reserve is measured at the end of each calendar day over the preceding six months, so it is read off your own reserve and no illustrative figure is invented.
MiCA Art. 35(1)(b)
C · A moving leg
One quarter of the preceding year’s fixed overheads
Not quantified here: it is read off your own accounts, and no illustrative figure is invented.
MiCA Art. 35(1)(c)

Whichever is largest, at all times. A is the floor beneath both moving legs

The three legs are drawn as equal blocks rather than as bars scaled to length, because two of them are deliberately not quantified: giving them a length would require inventing a reserve and an overhead figure. Above the test, Art. 35(3) lets the authority require up to 20 per cent more on a risk assessment, and Art. 35(5) between 20 and 40 per cent more after stress testing.

Whichever is largest is the requirement, at all times. The average reserve is measured at the end of each calendar day over the preceding six months, and EUR 350,000 is the floor beneath both moving legs.

Want the route, the fee and the capital figure in writing?

Tell us what the token references, who may hold it, and where it will be offered. You get the classification, the tariff post that applies and the capital test that follows from it.

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What getting a token issue wrong costs

Offering any other crypto-asset without the Article 4 set.

Up to EUR 700,000, or twice the benefit derived including a loss avoided where it can be quantified (§ 11 Z 1 MiCA-VVG). Seeking admission to trading contrary to Article 5 is the same offence.

Offering an asset-referenced or e-money token without the permission.

Same ceiling for a natural person, under § 11 Z 2. The gap opens at the next step: for a legal person the turnover ceiling on this limb is 12.5 percent, against 3 percent for an ordinary white paper breach and 5 percent for a service provider breach (§ 15 Abs. 3 Z 5, Z 6 and Z 7).

Getting the white paper or the offer duties wrong.

Eleven heads for other crypto-assets, across Articles 6 to 14, and twenty-nine for asset-referenced and e-money token issuers, across Articles 17 to 55. Each carries the same EUR 700,000 ceiling (§ 12 Abs. 1 and Abs. 2).

The reporting nobody budgets for.

Master data each calendar half-year, other company data each quarter, headcount by 31 January, and a token issuer must report any change of master data immediately (§ 10 Abs. 1 and Abs. 2). Missing it costs up to EUR 60,000 (§ 12 Abs. 4).

Assuming the company is safe because nobody signed anything.

§ 15 Abs. 2 makes a legal person answerable where a failure of supervision or control merely made the breach possible, and where the FMA cannot determine annual total turnover, § 15 Abs. 3 lets it estimate.

Related services

Company Registration Austria: Ready-Made Companies in Austria An Austrian company already on the register, for a token project whose schedule will not wait for a formation.

The name the token trades under A token's name, ticker and logo are a trade mark question before they are a disclosure question, and the marks are examined separately: the trademark registration guide.

The service provider side of MiCA Exchange, custody, trading platform, execution, placing, transfer, advice and portfolio management are the other half of the Regulation: crypto license austria.

How this page is kept accurate

Last updated 17 September 2026. Every figure on this page is cited to the article, paragraph or tariff post beside it, and every Austrian instrument carries its Bundesgesetzblatt reference and the date its version took effect. We are not a law firm, we hold no authorisation of any kind, and we are not the FMA's agent. Only the FMA decides, and it can refuse. Our fee is quoted on request.

Frequently asked questions

What is a MiCA licence, and is there one licence or several?

Several. Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 creates three separate permissions and the FMA grants all of them in Austria. Article 16 authorises an issuer of asset-referenced tokens. Article 48 lets a credit institution or an e-money institution issue e-money tokens. Article 59 authorises a crypto-asset service provider. Every other crypto-asset needs only a notified white paper.

I run an exchange or a custody service. Is this the page I want?

Probably not. Exchanging, holding, executing, placing, transferring or advising on other people's crypto-assets is a crypto-asset service under Article 59, and it has its own page here: crypto license austria. This page is about issuing a token yourself, and about the white paper that goes with an offer to the public.

What is the difference between an asset-referenced token and an e-money token?

What the token tracks. Article 3(1)(7) defines an e-money token as a crypto-asset that purports to hold a stable value by referencing the value of one official currency. Article 3(1)(6) defines an asset-referenced token as anything else that purports to hold a stable value: a basket, a commodity, a right, or more than one currency.

Do I need an authorisation to issue a utility token in Austria?

No authorisation, but usually a white paper. Article 4 requires a legal person, a white paper drawn up under Article 6, notified under Article 8 and published under Article 9. Article 4(3)(c) takes the offer outside Title II altogether where the utility token gives access to a good or service that already exists or is in operation.

How much does a MiCA licence cost in Austria?

The state fee is fixed by the FMA-Gebührenverordnung, Anlage 1, in the version in force from 6 June 2026: EUR 11,250 to authorise an issuer of asset-referenced tokens (III.O.1) or of e-money tokens (III.O.7), EUR 2,500 to approve an ART white paper (III.O.2) and EUR 940 to deposit any other one (III.O.8 and III.O.12). Our own fee is quoted on request.

Can my Austrian GmbH issue a stablecoin pegged to the euro?

Not as it stands. A token referencing one official currency is an e-money token, and Article 48(1)(a) lets only a credit institution or an authorised electronic money institution issue one. In Austria that means an FMA licence under E-Geldgesetz 2010 § 3, and the institution must have its seat and head office in Austria.

How much capital does a token issuer need?

For an asset-referenced token, Article 35(1) requires at all times the highest of EUR 350,000, 2 percent of the average reserve of assets, and a quarter of the preceding year's fixed overheads. An Austrian e-money institution's Common Equity Tier 1 may at no time fall below EUR 350,000 (E-Geldgesetz 2010 § 11 Abs. 1).

Does the FMA approve my white paper before I publish it?

For an asset-referenced token, yes: the white paper is approved, and where authorisation is granted it is deemed approved (Article 21(1)). For an e-money token and for every other crypto-asset, no. Article 8(3) and Article 51(11) both say that competent authorities shall not require prior approval before publication.

How long does an asset-referenced token authorisation take?

MiCA sets limits, not a forecast. Receipt is acknowledged within 2 working days, completeness is checked within 25, a reasoned draft decision follows within 60 working days of a complete application, EBA, ESMA and the ECB give opinions within 20, and the decision comes within 25 working days of those opinions. We give no timeline of our own.

Which crypto-assets fall outside MiCA entirely?

Article 2(3) excludes crypto-assets that are unique and not fungible with other crypto-assets. Article 2(4) excludes anything qualifying as a financial instrument, a deposit, funds other than e-money tokens, a securitisation position, an insurance or reinsurance product, or one of the listed pension products. Article 2(2)(a) excludes services provided purely inside a group.

My token has been trading since before 30 December 2024. Is anything still owed?

Yes, and the date is 31 December 2027. Article 143(2)(b) requires the operator of the trading platform to ensure by then that a white paper is drawn up, notified and published under Articles 6, 8 and 9 and kept updated under Article 12. The marketing rules in Articles 7 and 9 already applied from 30 December 2024.

What happens if a token is offered without any of this?

A fine of up to EUR 700,000, or up to twice the benefit derived including a loss avoided, for a natural person (§ 11 Z 1 and Z 2 MiCA-VVG). For a legal person the ceiling is EUR 5,000,000, or 12.5 percent of annual total turnover where the breach concerns asset-referenced or e-money tokens (§ 15 Abs. 3 Z 7).

Can a retail buyer cancel after they have bought?

For a crypto-asset that is neither an asset-referenced token nor an e-money token, yes. Article 13 gives a retail holder 14 calendar days to withdraw, without fees or costs and without giving reasons, and reimbursement follows no later than 14 days after. The right does not exist where the asset was admitted to trading before the purchase.

Request a token scoping review

Send what the token references, who may hold it, where it will be offered and what the group behind it looks like. You get the route, the tariff post, the capital test and the document list.