Polish crypto firms struggle with uncertainty amid discussions on delayed law

Polish crypto companies are grappling with persisting uncertainty about the future of their industry amid continuing debates over a long-awaited bill to regulate the digital assets market in the country.

The delayed adoption of the legislation designed to transpose European rules into national law puts Poland in a shrinking group of member states that are yet to align their crypto regulations with MiCA, the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets framework.

New crypto rules discussed in Polish parliament

A parliamentary group dedicated to simplifying taxation in Poland met on Wednesday to talk about the country’s future cryptocurrency act. The discussion, not the first one on the matter, comes as the clock is ticking for Warsaw to enforce the EU’s new crypto standards.

Poland’s crypto sector has been expecting specific rules for over a decade, the Bitcoin.pl portal noted in a report. Public consultations started in 2016. However, attempts by both authorities and the industry itself for comprehensive regulation have so far failed to produce results.

Poles learned how to account for crypto profits in 2018 but a broader framework is still needed. A bill has been prepared by the government but it’s yet to be approved by the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, and the Senate before the president signs it into law.

The draft law, discussed at the meeting of the Simple Taxes Parliamentary Team at the Sejm, seeks to adapt the Polish crypto market to MiCA, which came into force in the EU at the end of 2024. Member states have 18 months to do that and a few haven’t yet, including Poland.

The current uncertainty can hurt the Polish crypto economy by forcing companies to relocate to better regulated jurisdictions, Bitcoin.pl warns, noting that a further delay in dealing with the issue may lead to missed opportunities for both the industry and the country.

At the same time, the new legislation creates certain controversies. For example, it grants regulatory powers to Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), which has not been particularly friendly toward the crypto sector in recent years.

Penalties and fines in store for Polish crypto companies

If adopted as is, the bill will authorize the country’s financial watchdog to order crypto owners to “limit the size of open positions” if the body deems it necessary in order to ensure the “safety of trading.” The Polish crypto news outlet asks the rhetorical question:

“Will a crypto holder be required to sell, even at a loss, because someone at the KNF considers what they are doing to be ‘dangerous’?”

Furthermore, the regulator will be able to restrict access to a crypto platform’s website after issuing a “notification of a justified suspicion of a crime” as well as freeze cryptocurrency accounts.

Then come the penalties. A public offering of crypto assets inconsistent with the law could result in a fine of up to 10 million Polish zloty (over $2.6 million). More serious violations would lead to a prison sentence. Hindering the KNF’s oversight will be met with a 20 million zloty fine.

But what angers the country’s crypto community the most is the controversial proposal to impose a 0.5% fee on the revenues of Polish cryptocurrency exchanges. The main concern is that only entities registered in Poland will be required to pay it.

Meanwhile, foreign-based platforms will be only charged a one-time fee of €4,500 ($5,100). This would simply compel Polish companies to register in other jurisdictions as it would be cheaper to provide services in Poland from abroad.

On a positive note, the cryptocurrency act aims to protect the rights and interests of traders by introducing a 30-day period for considering any complaints and ensuring their funds are stored separately from the crypto platforms’ own digital assets.

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