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Poland has ignited one of Europe\u2019s fiercest crypto battles, after its president slammed the brakes on new digital-asset rules\u2014leaving more than a million investors stuck between political crossfire and regulatory limbo.<\/p>\n
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Poland\u2019s President Karol Nawrocki vetoed the country\u2019s Crypto-Asset Market Act on Dec. 1, setting off a political firestorm and injecting uncertainty into a market with more than a million Polish crypto holders. Nawrocki said the bill posed \u201cgenuine threats\u201d to civil liberties and handed excessive power to financial regulators\u2014most notably the authority to block crypto-related websites with minimal oversight.<\/p>\n
The vetoed legislation was intended to implement the EU\u2019s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework domestically. But Poland\u2019s draft ballooned to more than 100 pages\u2014far longer than versions passed by countries like the Czech Republic, which needed just 12. Critics said the bill risked arbitrary censorship, imposed outsized supervision fees, and would choke off innovation by favoring foreign giants over Polish startups.<\/p>\n
Finance Minister Andrzej Doma\u0144ski condemned the veto, accusing the president of embracing \u201cchaos over accountability.\u201d He argued that without proper regulation, consumers remain exposed to fraud, noting that one in five Polish crypto investors has already lost money to scams. Deputy Prime Minister Rados\u0142aw Sikorski added that any future market turmoil would \u201chave a clear political author.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Politician and crypto advocate Tomasz Mentzen said the bill would have driven businesses out of Poland, while economist Krzysztof Piech noted that MiCA will take effect across the EU on July 1, 2026 regardless\u2014meaning Poland can still benefit from EU-wide protections without adopting an overly restrictive national version.<\/p>\n
Industry leaders had long warned that the legislation went too far. In September, Zondacrypto CEO Przemys\u0142aw Kral called it a regime of \u201cexcessive restrictions\u201d that treated crypto as a threat, citing fines of up to 10 million zlotys and potential prison terms for some violations. Critics argued that the bill effectively criminalized basic activities such as smart contract development.<\/p>\n
With the veto, Poland stands alone as the only EU state yet to implement MiCA. Lawmakers would need a three-fifths majority to override the president\u2014a difficult threshold. If no authority is designated before July 2026, crypto firms may be forced to register elsewhere in the EU, diverting tax revenues abroad.<\/p>\n
Opposition lawmaker Janusz Kowalski said his Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwo\u015b\u0107) party is ready to introduce its own \u201cEU+0\u201d MiCA implementation to keep the industry onshore. <\/p>\n
\u201cPoland can be a crypto hub,\u201d he wrote<\/a> on X. \u201cCrypto companies should be registered in Poland and pay taxes in Poland.\u201d<\/p>\n