Poland’s Bold Crypto Gambit: Adopts Controversial Law to Localize MiCA Rules Ahead of EU

Poland just threw a regulatory curveball. The nation is fast-tracking its own crypto legislation, aiming to implement the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework on its own terms—and timeline.

The Warsaw Workaround

This isn't just transposition; it's localization with teeth. The law creates a bespoke regulatory sandbox, granting Poland's Financial Supervision Authority (FSA) expanded powers to license and supervise crypto asset service providers (CASPs) before MiCA's full rollout. It carves out specific national provisions, potentially creating a stricter—or more tailored—regime than the EU baseline.

Why Go It Alone?

The move signals a strategic play for first-mover advantage within the bloc. By establishing a clear rulebook now, Poland aims to attract crypto businesses seeking regulatory certainty ahead of the 2026 MiCA deadline. Critics, however, see a power grab—a chance for domestic regulators to set precedents that could complicate future EU-wide harmonization. It's the regulatory equivalent of front-running the market.

The Compliance Calculus

For exchanges and wallet providers eyeing the European market, the path just forked. Operating in Poland may soon require navigating a dual-layer of compliance: the incoming national law *and* the looming MiCA standards. Some firms will see opportunity in early clarity; others will decry added complexity and cost in a sector already drowning in legal fees—because nothing says 'innovation' like pre-emptively hiring more compliance officers.

Poland isn't waiting for Brussels. It's building its own gate, writing its own rules, and betting that crypto firms will line up to pay the entry fee. Whether this creates a thriving hub or a regulatory island remains the billion-zloty question.

Polish lawmakers adopt crypto law vetoed by Nawrocki

The Sejm, the lower house of parliament in Poland, has adopted the country’s new Crypto-Asset Market Act, local media reported.

On Thursday, the comprehensive framework was backed by 241 members of the chamber, out of a total of 425 deputies participating in the vote.

This was the second reading of the bill, which took place after Karol Nawrocki returned it to the legislature in early December. It was initially passed in September.

The first try to override the president’s veto was unsuccessful as the parties forming the ruling coalition were unable to provide the three-fifths majority needed to achieve that.

The legislation is supposedly designed to transpose the EU’s latest Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulations into national law.

However, the country’s crypto community is warning that it goes far beyond the European requirements, threatening the very survival of Polish platforms. Many of them are expected to exit what’s now arguably Eastern Europe’s largest cryptocurrency market.

Crypto Act stirs political storm in Warsaw

In his motives for the veto, Nawrocki added his own concerns, including regarding the personal and economic freedoms of Poles and the very stability of their state.

The pro-EU government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk returned fire by accusing the president of involvement in a “crypto affair” and “weird relationship” with the industry.

After the first failed attempt to overturn the veto of the recently elected nationalist head of state, Tusk portrayed the adoption of the legislation as a matter of national security.

Addressing the Sejm during a partially closed-door session, he alleged that Poland’s crypto sector has been infiltrated by over a hundred foreign entities, many from Russia, Belarus and other former-Soviet states.

Quoted by Polish media and Bloomberg, he insisted that his cabinet’s draft gives Warsaw “tools to control a new market, which is not regulated, where the Russian services, Russian mafia and money laundering are present.”

Cryptocurrencies have been used by Moscow to finance subversive actions in the country and to circumvent Western sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine, he claimed, adding that Nawrocki’s stoppage was serving the interests of Putin’s regime.

Members of Tusk’s cabinet indicated they are resubmitting the bill to parliament without any major changes, and the Premier himself turned directly to the president with a “Please, do not disturb” appeal, as quoted by a leading Polish crypto news outlet.

Poland’s crypto industry wants to know what’s next

The approved legal document, which contains more than 100 pages of new provisions, is not merely a transposition of European law, Bitcoin.pl noted after the Sejm’s vote, elaborating in an article:

“It is primarily a strict regime of penalties and transferring full control over the industry to the Polish Financial Supervision Authority.”

The watchdog, abbreviated KNF in Polish, “receives the tools it could only dream of until now: the ability to suspend the activities of platforms, impose financial penalties reaching millions of zlotys and control every MOVE on the crypto-asset market,” the portal added.

It also suggested that Polish crypto exchanges, brokers and blockchain projects should now prepare for a new era of government bureaucracy, including capital, licensing, and reporting requirements.

“The list of responsibilities is growing at an alarming rate,” the crypto-focused website remarked, issuing another stark warning:

“Smaller companies may simply not survive this regulatory wave. Big players will adapt, pay the bills and keep playing. But how many startups and innovative projects will fall before they get the right license?”

The Crypto-Asset Market Act is sowing division among representatives of the sector as well. Some insist that MiCA will bring necessary standardization and protection for investors.

Others say its Polish interpretation will suffocate innovation and chase businesses away to friendlier jurisdictions such as Malta or the Baltics.

The publication highlights that the crypto law has become the main cause for skirmishes on the battleground of Polish politics in recent weeks, with PR often blurring the important matter. It believes Karol Nawrocki is likely to once again halt Tusk’s legislation.

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