The Lower Polish Parliament, the SEJM, adopted the law on the Crypto-Aset market, introducing new rules for the country’s digital asset sector and causing strong reactions from industry leaders and politicians.
new license and compliance rules
The bill establishes the Komisja Nadzoru Finansowo (KNF) as the main regulator of the asset market of cryptography in Poland.
Under the proposed regime, all Crypto asset service providers – in particular exchanges, transmitters and guards, whether domestic or foreign – must obtain a license from the KNF to operate.
The candidates are required to submit detailed documents on their business structure, their capital, their compliance controls, their risk management and their anti-money laundering procedures (LMA).
If they are promulgated, companies will receive a six -month window to comply.
The fact of not obtaining a license could cause the suspension of operations and legal actions, sanctions including fines of up to 10 million Polish zlots ($ 2.8 million) and prison terms of up to two years.
Concerns about the impact of the market
The bill obtained 230 votes in favor and 196 against. Critics warn that strict provisions on licenses and criminal liability could harm Bitcoin and the wider cryptography market in Poland, which serves three million users.
Janusz Kowalski, an opposition party legislator, stressed the length and gravity of the bill, declaring:
“It is the most important and restrictive law of EU cryptocurrencies.”
He argued that the 118 -page legislation represents over -regulation compared to the other EU countries.
regulatory delays and political tension
Tomasz Mentzen, a blockchain defender and politician, criticized the slow processing times of the KNF, noting that average demand takes 30 months.
He urged the Senate and President Karol Nawrocki to oppose his veto to the bill, warning that this could lead to the “destruction of blockchain and stablecoins” in Poland.
The position of the president on innovation
President Karol Nawrocki, who recently won Poland runoff with 50.9% of the vote, had committed to supporting bitcoin and protecting innovation against “tyrannical regulations”. On social networks, he said:
“As President of the Republic of Poland, I will be the guarantor that tyrannical regulations restricting your freedom do not come into force.”
The fate of the bill now lies in the Senate and the President, while the debate on the regulation against innovation continues.
