WARSAW, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Poland’s government failed on Friday to overturn a presidential veto of a bill regulating cryptocurrencies, hampering its bid to step up oversight of a market it said is rife with money laundering and open to exploitation by Russian intelligence services.
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“There is no doubt that this market is very susceptible to exploitation by foreign services, intelligence agencies and mafias,” Tusk told parliament. “The challenge is for the state to provide the tools necessary to ensure that it is not powerless.”
Tusk addressed lawmakers in a closed session before the public debate to present “urgent information regarding national security.” In an article on X, he described the vote as “Russian money and services against the security of the state and citizens.”
RIGHT-WING PARTIES call regulations excessive
The bill would have implemented the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Asset (MiCA) Regulation, giving Poland’s financial regulator supervisory powers over the cryptocurrency market and introducing criminal liability for offenses related to the issuance of tokens or the provision of crypto-asset services.
Nawrocki and right-wing parties in Parliament say the bill would drive out crypto companies due to excessive charges and that other EU member states have implemented MiCA with much simpler and less restrictive legislation.
“To stand on this platform and say: ‘Either you vote for the Russian mafia or you vote for my bill’ is to give a false choice and you know it perfectly well,” declared the head of the presidential chancellery, Zbigniew Bogucki.
He called on the government to work with the presidential palace to develop new legislation.
The government would have needed a three-fifths majority, with at least half of lawmakers voting to override the veto.
While lawmakers remained tight-lipped about the content of the closed-door session, the official PAP news agency cited sources saying Tusk spoke about Russia’s involvement in cryptocurrency scandals.
Polish security services have said in the past that Moscow used cryptocurrencies to pay people involved in sabotage, allegations that Russia has repeatedly denied.
Reporting by Alan Charlish, Barbara Erling and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; edited by Philippa Fletcher
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