Poland's lower house of parliament, the Sejm, failed on Friday to overturn President Karol Nawrocki's veto of a comprehensive crypto-asset market bill, leaving the country as the only European Union member state not aligned with the bloc's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework. The vote fell 18 votes short of the three-fifths majority required to override the presidential decision.
The vetoed legislation, introduced in June 2025, aimed to transpose the EU's MiCA rules into Polish law. President Nawrocki rejected the bill on Monday, criticizing it as overly complex compared to implementations in other EU countries and warning it risked pushing domestic crypto firms abroad. He argued the bill posed a threat to "the freedom of Poles, their property, and the stability of the country," labeling it an example of "overregulation" that could drive away investment and stifle innovation.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-EU coalition government had urged parliament to overturn the veto on national security grounds, claiming Russian intelligence and organized crime were exploiting digital assets for covert financing. This argument was sharply rebuked by Zbigniew Bogucki, chief of the president's chancellery, who called it a "false choice." The failure to override the veto forces the government to restart the legislative process from scratch if it wishes to establish a formal regulatory regime for digital assets.
The domestic crypto industry was divided on the legislation. While some saw it as a necessary step toward clarity, others, like the CEO of major exchange Zondacrypto, described it as a "step backwards" that risked criminalizing core blockchain development. The presidential press secretary, Rafael Leskiewicz, called the act a "legal fiasco."
This regulatory stalemate occurs as other EU nations, including Germany, Malta, the Netherlands, and Lithuania, have already begun issuing MiCA-compliant licenses. Despite the regulatory vacuum, Poland's crypto market is thriving. Chainalysis ranks it eighth in Europe for total cryptocurrency value received (July 2024–June 2025), with transaction volumes growing over 50% year-over-year. An estimated 7.9 million Poles, roughly 20% of the population, now use cryptocurrency.
Meanwhile, Italy's financial regulator, Consob, has reminded firms of the December 30 deadline for MiCA compliance. In a broader EU context, the European Commission is considering proposals to centralize crypto exchange regulation under a single, SEC-style supervisor, which could eventually diminish the significance of individual member states' implementations.
BTC
HYPE