Poland President Vetoes Crypto Bill As Firms Seek MiCA Licenses Abroad

Poland’s president vetoed a second bill meant to align the country’s crypto rules with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation framework, deepening uncertainty for local platforms as a key transition deadline approaches.

President Karol Nawrocki declined to sign Bill 2064 last week, marking the second veto of proposed legislation to implement the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), the president’s office said Thursday. Nawrocki vetoed a similar measure in December and described Bill 2064 as “practically identical” to the original Bill 1424 vetoed previously.

The veto followed an announcement by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), warning that Poland has not designated a competent authority to supervise the crypto market, highlighting the MiCA transition deadline of July 1, 2026.

“This does not change our strategy,” Kanga Exchange co-CEO Sławek Zawadzki told Cointelegraph.

“From the beginning, we considered the possibility that the MiCA-implementing law in Poland might not enter into force in time, and we prepared alternative jurisdictional solutions accordingly,” Zawadzki said.

Bills faced heavy criticism from crypto supporters

The veto underscores an ongoing debate and divisions within Poland’s government over how to regulate digital assets, with Nawrocki signaling a more industry‑friendly stance by rejecting the strict legislation.

Both proposals drew criticism from crypto market advocates, with Polish politician Tomasz Mentzen describing the legislation as extensive “overregulation” that could stifle the sector.

“I will not sign a wrong law just because it was passed again by the parliamentary majority. A wrong law that passed a hundred times still remains a wrong law,” Nawrocki said, adding: “Poland should attract innovation, not push it away.”

Still, no law creates a regulatory imbalance under MiCA

Despite industry supporters welcoming the president’s veto, the absence of MiCA‑implementing legislation leaves local crypto platforms in a precarious position ahead of this summer’s transition deadlines.

The situation also creates a regulatory imbalance between Polish companies and foreign businesses, such as the US crypto exchange Coinbase, which recently expanded operations in Poland after securing a MiCA license in Luxembourg in 2025.

“Foreign entities that obtain a MiCA license in their home countries will be able to provide services in Poland, while Polish companies currently have no formal path to begin the licensing process domestically,” Kanga’s Zawadzki told Cointelegraph. “This results in regulatory asymmetry,” he added.

Przemysław Kral, CEO of Zonda Crypto — an exchange originally set up in Poland but now registered in Estonia — said the regulatory uncertainty is likely to push many smaller local crypto companies out of the market.

Related: Binance applies for MiCA license in Greece as EU deadlines loom

“Although we are a company with Polish roots and the largest player in the crypto industry on the Polish market, we have been operating outside Poland for years,” Kral told Cointelegraph. The company implemented a strategy to obtain a MiCA license outside Poland and plans to passport the license to the country.

“We are confident that we will remain a key player on the market. However, many small Polish crypto companies will lose the opportunity to operate on the market,” the CEO said.

In the wake of the latest veto, Polish economist Krzysztof Piech said he is working on a new, more crypto-friendly proposal to implement MiCA in Poland. Piech said on social media over the weekend that a draft exists and is being finalized.

Cointelegraph approached professor Piech for comment regarding the draft bill, but had not received a response by publication.