Hungary to decriminalize crypto trading in reversal of Orban-era restrictions

Hungary is planning to remove prison penalties tied to cryptocurrency trading, reversing rules that took effect on July 1, 2025 and triggered a sharp tightening of the country's digital-asset regime. Government spokesperson Anita Köböl said the overhaul will decriminalize crypto trading, eliminate penalties tied to the use of unlicensed exchanges and certain unauthorized high-value transactions, and bring Hungary's framework closer to the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation. The earlier rules exposed individuals conducting certain transactions between 50 million Hungarian forints and 500 million forints to prison terms of up to two or five years depending on value, while service providers operating without a central bank license faced sentences of up to eight years. Requirements for approved validation of both crypto-to-fiat and crypto-to-crypto conversions prompted platforms including Revolut to suspend crypto services in Hungary, raised compliance costs for local firms and drew an EU probe into whether the regime fit bloc-wide rules. Zoltán Tanács, Hungary’s Minister of Science and Technology, said the previous framework was politically motivated rather than a market safeguard. The new administration also plans to revise cybersecurity rules affecting about 4,000 Hungarian businesses under the NIS2 directive and is using Estonia as a model for rebuilding the country's digital regulatory environment. No timeline has been set for when the legislative changes will take effect.