If reading the headline gave you a shock and you immediately thought of the Austrian crypto exchange Bitpanda, I can immediately reassure you. Of course, this intervention by the Austrian Financial Market Authority does not involve one of the leading European crypto exchanges, but rather an equally unknown and dubious provider, Crypto Management GmbH, which also has its registered office in Vienna, the Austrian capital. The FMA Austria has published the following, I quote the original wording:

The FMA has today, with immediate effect, by decree revoked the registration pursuant to § 32a (1) of the Financial Market Money Laundering Act (FM-GwG) of Crypto Management GmbH (crypto-management.at) with its registered office in 1060 Vienna, Gumpendorfer Straße 5/23, as a service provider in relation to virtual currencies in accordance with § 2 Z 22 FM-GwG. The company is therefore no longer entitled to offer the following financial services in Austria or from Austria:

+ Services for securing private cryptographic keys to hold, store and transfer virtual currencies on behalf of customers (electronic wallet providers);

+ Exchange of virtual currencies for fiat money and vice versa;

+ Exchange of one or more virtual currencies among each other;

+ Transfer of virtual currencies;

+ Provision of financial services for the issuance and sale of virtual currencies.

In addition, as there is a suspicion of offences relevant to criminal law, the FMA has also informed the public prosecutor’s office and has transmitted its findings in a statement of facts.

Crypto Management: Website offline – Insolvency reported – Public Prosecutor’s Office investigates

Meanwhile, the Crypto Management website is offline and the company is in insolvency and the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic and Corruption Offences (WKStA) has initiated investigations. It is suspected of fraud or breach of trust. Of course, as always, until a valid conviction, the presumption of innocence applies. I unfortunately have to write this addition, because otherwise I will find it missing in my lawyer’s post.

The fraud and damage cases in the area of ​​cryptocurrencies with roots in Austria are, according to my experience values, disproportionately high. In this alleged fraud case, apparently even with a corresponding registration and license by the FMA Austria until recently. This is as noteworthy as it is worrying, because the license was only revoked when the child had already fallen into the well for the investors concerned.

Beware of Crypto-Bauernfänger! I regularly warn you of dubious providers and methods. If the child has already fallen into the well and a damage case has occurred, the following points are advisable:

1. File a report with the police

2. Inform national supervisory authorities (BaFin, FMA, FINMA)

3. Pursue the legal path through a specialized lawyer – Our expert network is available to you here.