President again vetoes government bill on regulating crypto-assets market in Poland

Feb 13, 2026 | Business, Law

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

President Karol Nawrocki has for the second time vetoed a government bill that aimed to regulate the crypto-assets market in Poland and bring the country in line with EU rules. He says the bill was “practically identical” to the one he previously blocked in December.

“I will not sign a bad law just because it was passed again by the parliamentary majority – a bad law passed a hundred times is still a bad law,” said Nawrocki, who is aligned with the right-wing opposition. “Poland should attract innovation, not push it away.”

The government has argued that the legislation will help protect users of crypto-assets from fraud.

It also says that the measures are necessary for national security, given Russian involvement in crypto markets and the fact that Moscow uses cryptocurrencies to pay operatives carrying out sabotage in Poland.

The ruling coalition, which ranges from left to centre-right, can attempt to overturn the veto, as it did last time. But such an attempt would again likely fail, as the government lacks the three-fifths majority in parliament required to overrule the president.

 

The bill aimed to help Poland comply with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation by designating Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) as the body responsible for overseeing the industry.

After the government failed to overturn Nawrocki’s first veto in December, parliament introduced an amendment to the new bill that lowered the maximum fee charged by the KNF for overseeing the industry, from 0.4% of firms’ revenue to 0.1%. However, besides this amendment, the legislation was virtually unchanged.

It still required firms operating in the industry to submit information on their activities to the KNF, which would be empowered to impose sanctions if necessary. The law would also have introduced criminal liability for offences relating to crypto-assets.

When vetoing the first bill in December, Nawrocki said that these measures are too onerous, lack transparency, and pose a “real threat to the freedoms of Poles”.

Commenting on the veto, government spokesman Adam Szłapka wrote on social media: “If anyone loses their savings due to a lack of regulation and oversight, political responsibility falls squarely on the presidential palace.”

In response, Nawrocki’s chief of staff, Zbigniew Bogucki, told Szłapka that, “with his first veto, the president gave you the chance to improve this bad law…The responsibility is yours”. He noted that Nawrocki has expressed his openness to working with the government on a new, better bill.

However, foreign minister Radosław Sikorski said that Nawrocki had not fulfilled his promise to present a crypto-regulation bill of his own. He sarcastically accused the president of showing “touching loyalty towards sponsors, both foreign and domestic”, referring to claims that Polish conservatives have ties to crypto firms.

Interior minister Marcin Kierwiński on Friday told broadcaster RMF that the ruling coalition would not stop in its attempts to regulate the crypto market, but he did not specify what steps would be taken.

Previously, deputy finance minister Jurand Drop has warned that, if Poland does not designate an authority to oversee the crypto market by 1 July 2026, firms will not be able to register in Poland and will instead move to other EU countries, resulting in lower tax revenues for the state.


Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: RDNE Stock project/Pexels

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