On 22 May 2018, the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) published an update of an FAQ on the application of the Alternative Investment Fund Manager Act. In these FAQ, the regulator argues that business models relating to the mining of virtual currencies can qualify as alternative investment funds. This would have far-reaching consequences for the mining location Austria. In this article in the Journal for Finance Law (Zeitschrift für FinanzmarktrechtI), Oliver Völkel critically questions the current legal view of the Austrian regulator and offers solutions should this opinion also prevail at the European level. You can find the article here.
