The topic of cryptocurrency market regulation returns in Poland. The Sejm will probably again not reject the presidential veto on the government's bill. What does this mean for investors?
Poland without crypto regulation
The dispute over cryptocurrency market regulation has been ongoing in Poland for months. And this despite the fact that the issue seemed simple: it was enough to implement the EU package MiCA into our legal system.
The problem turned out to be overzealousness: Polish regulators added to the draft provisions that the industry did not like: it would be fully controlled by the KNF. In addition, there would be high fees for operating the business.
As a result, the president vetoed the document. And that already twice. The first time the Sejm failed to reject the veto, the second attempt is ahead of us, but it is certain that the opposition will again maintain resistance to the head of state – this follows from parliamentary arithmetic.
To reject it would require a vote of 3/5 of MPs (in the presence of at least half of the statutory number). However, PiS, Confederation and Polish Crown Confederation have enough MPs to block any attempt to reject the veto.
The problem is that as a result the Polish industry is in a regulatory stalemate: the government has an idea for regulations that the opposition and the president do not like, and at the same time PiS and both Confederations do not have enough MPs to "push through" their version of the bill.
"If we cannot reject the veto, we will keep submitting bills" – said Dariusz Wieczorek from The Left.
The head of the President’s Office Zbigniew Bogucki during a session of the parliamentary committee on public finance and economy and development said that the veto will not be rejected.
"I think we are wasting time (…) we could use this time, both the state and I, all of us, to deal with matters important to Poles, so that we do not waste another veto that has no chance of being rejected," he said.
"This is the security of the Polish portfolio. If PiS and Confederation vote against [rejecting the veto], they take responsibility for the lack of protection of those funds," warned, however, in an interview with "Wprost" MP Polski 2050 Paweł Śliz.
PiS looks at it differently: it points out that the current draft will mean that in Poland no one will register cryptocurrency activity, because we will be a state with an overly complex law. Both MPs from Nowogrodzka and their colleagues from Confederation point out that regulations are needed, but not so elaborate as those proposed by the current government.
Hence the idea that Sławomir Mentzen and his colleagues support: they want a "MiCA plus zero" law, which in practice means introducing simple EU rules in our country, without – according to them – harmful add‑ons.
Also see: Bitcoin price (BTC/USD, BTC/PLN) doomed to rises? Expert: "The situation has turned quickly." What next for ETH/USD?
Politicians fight, entrepreneurs and investors have a problem
The problem is that the lack of regulation will have consequences. Already after 30 June 2026 Polish companies will not be able to apply for licenses in Poland, and that means they will be forced to emigrate: setting up new headquarters in MiCA countries and there they will seek permission to operate. In practice they are already doing that. For example, the Polish group Ari10 has already obtained a license in the Netherlands. As a result, it can operate in our country, but on a licensing basis.
For investors this is a potential problem, because oversight of crypto firms will be carried out by foreign regulators. This may make it harder to resolve potential disputes such as fund freezes. It will also be harder to find a lawyer who can advise on such a matter.
Today investors pay for one bitcoin about 75,000 USD, which means a jump of 5.5% over a week.
Chart. Bitcoin price (BTC/USD)
Source: Trading Economics
Read also: Bitcoin price through the cracks? Weeks of uncertainty hit the market. Investors wait for the final direction of BTC/USD
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