Key facts
- Polish President Karol Nawrocki vetoed a bill to implement the EU's MiCA crypto regulation for the third time.
- Nawrocki cited the government's failure to incorporate most of his proposed amendments.
- The veto leaves Poland as the only EU member state without domestic MiCA implementation ahead of the July 1 deadline.
- Crypto asset service providers based in Poland may lose their legal basis to serve EU customers after July 1 without a MiCA license.
- Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticized the president's repeated veto.
- The veto occurs amid an ongoing investigation into Zonda, a major Polish crypto exchange, for alleged fraud and money laundering.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki has vetoed a bill aimed at implementing the European Union's Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) for the third time. Nawrocki stated on Thursday that while he supports regulating the cryptocurrency market, the government had only incorporated one of the 16 key amendments his office had proposed, and the text remained largely unchanged from previous rejected drafts.
The repeated vetoes delay Poland's integration into the EU's comprehensive crypto regulatory framework, particularly concerning as the transitional period for MiCA concludes on July 1. After this deadline, crypto asset service providers will require a MiCA license to continue serving clients within the EU.
Poland is currently the sole EU member state without a domestic MiCA implementation. Consequently, Polish-based crypto service providers lacking a MiCA license may face legal challenges in serving EU customers post-July 1.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed strong disapproval of the president's decision, posting on X that the veto was "unbelievable" and suggesting the president was more involved with the bill than anticipated.
This development occurs amidst heightened scrutiny of Poland's crypto sector. Prosecutors are reportedly investigating Zonda, one of the country's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, on suspicion of fraud and money laundering involving approximately 2,000 customers allegedly connected to Russian organized crime. The investigation was prompted by a report from blockchain platform Recoveris, which raised concerns about Zonda's potential insolvency due to a significant decrease in its hot wallet balances. Earlier in April, Zonda's CEO, Przemysław Kral, stated that a cold wallet containing around 4,500 Bitcoin was inaccessible because the private keys were meant to be provided by Zonda's founder and former CEO, Sylwester Suszek, who has been missing since 2022. Kral has denied any involvement in Suszek's disappearance or misappropriation of funds.