President Karol Nawrocki’s Poland MiCA veto, issued for the third time on Thursday, leaves the country as the only EU member state still without domestic implementation of the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA), with the transitional period ending on 1 July 2026.
Nawrocki said he supports crypto regulation in principle but argued the government incorporated just one of 16 key amendments his office had proposed. The vetoed text was, by his account, nearly identical to the two drafts he had already refused.
The first rejection came on 1 December 2025, when Nawrocki blocked the Act of 7 November 2025 on the Crypto-Assets Market, citing what the Polish FinTech government portal recorded as concerns over the authority to block internet domains used for MiCA-violating activities, the sheer volume of proposed provisions, and the level of supervisory fees. Those objections have carried through to the third rejection.
Poland MiCA Veto Deepens Political Deadlock
Parliament attempted to reverse the second veto in April but fell short of the 263 votes required for an override. Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted his reaction on X: ‘It sounds unbelievable, but the president has vetoed the cryptocurrency bill again. He seems more entangled in it than everyone thought.’
The standoff has a direct operational consequence. Under analysis by Wozniak Legal, Poland’s CASP licensing process is suspended until new legislation passes. Firms holding a valid entry in the Polish Register of Virtual Currency Activity (RDWW) can continue operating under that entry and the AML Act for now, but that runway expires at the EU level on 1 July.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has been unambiguous: after 1 July 2026, any entity providing crypto-asset services to EU clients without a MiCA licence will be in breach of EU law and must cease operations. ESMA’s April 2026 statement also set out the expectation that CASPs should have orderly wind-down plans in place ahead of the deadline.
Enforcement teeth vary by jurisdiction. France’s AMF has warned that operating without authorisation after 1 July is a criminal offence carrying up to two years in prison and a fine of €30,000, according to Cointelegraph’s reporting on the MiCA deadline. Poland-based firms serving EU clients without a licence face equivalent exposure once the grace period closes.
Zondacrypto Probe Tightens the Regulatory Pressure
The political stalemate is running alongside an active criminal investigation. Polish prosecutors launched a probe into Zondacrypto, one of the country’s largest exchanges, on 17 April 2026, with reported losses in the investigation exceeding 350 million (the currency denomination has not been confirmed in available sources). The investigation involves suspected fraud and money laundering linked to approximately 2,000 customers, with alleged connections to Russian organised crime.
CEO Przemysław Kral denied misappropriating funds, though according to Invezz reporting via TradingView, Kral had not been seen publicly for several weeks at the time. CoinGeek reports the Zondacrypto fallout has added urgency to Tusk’s push to revive the crypto reform bill.
Government officials have argued throughout the legislative process that delays leave consumers and businesses exposed to fraud. The Zondacrypto investigation lends that argument a concrete case study, though the absence of a licensing framework means there is currently no domestic supervisory body with the mandate to act on it.
With no fast-track legislative path apparent and the July 1 cliff approaching, the immediate question is whether Poland can pass a compliant bill through a parliament that has already failed once to override a presidential veto, and whether any revised text can satisfy Nawrocki’s 15 remaining unaddressed objections in time.
