Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk Alleges Russia-Linked Zondacrypto Influenced MiCA Bill Dispute

Poland’s parliament again failed to overturn President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of a crypto bill backed by Donald Tusk’s government, leaving MiCA-aligned regulation stalled amid an extended political impasse.

38d ago

Fact Check

The core statement is well supported by the fetched reports from crypto.news and Polskie Radio. Both say Donald Tusk, speaking in Poland’s parliament/Sejm, alleged that Zondacrypto was financed with Russian-linked money connected to organized crime and Russian security services, and that it supported conservative or right-wing political actors. Both also place the remarks in the context of a parliamentary effort to override presidential vetoes of Poland’s MiCA-aligned crypto regulation bill. The AP attribution is also corroborated by the search result for the AP pickup at WRIC, though that page could not be fetched in this run. The traced Odaily link also points to The Block article carrying the same allegation. I therefore assess the claim as likely true, with medium confidence because the direct AP text and The Block page were not fetch-validated here.

Summary

Poland’s parliament again failed to override President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of a crypto regulation bill, with 243 votes to overturn the veto, short of the 263 required. The bill, backed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government, was intended to align Poland with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework. The failed vote extended a political deadlock after an earlier unsuccessful attempt in December, leaving the proposed crypto legislation blocked. Previous reporting on the topic centered on Tusk’s allegations that Zondacrypto influenced the dispute around the bill, but the new development is the renewed failure to secure enough parliamentary support to reverse the veto.

Terms & Concepts

MiCA: Markets in Crypto-Assets, the European Union’s regulatory framework for crypto assets and related service providers.