Polish President Karol Nawrocki vetoes crypto bill for third time

Polish President Karol Nawrocki has blocked a cryptocurrency regulation bill for the third time, returning the measure to parliament and leaving Poland as the only EU member state without national legislation implementing the bloc’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, or MiCA, ahead of the July 1 compliance deadline. Nawrocki repeated objections he first raised in November and again in February, arguing the bill would overregulate the sector, give excessive powers to the Financial Supervision Authority, or KNF, and still fail to protect consumers adequately. He said lawmakers adopted only one of 16 amendments proposed by his office and that he would sign the bill if parliament accepted changes including stronger judicial oversight, shorter account-freeze periods and broader state liability for unlawful freezes. The bill passed the Sejm in May by 241 votes to 200 after parliament rejected those proposals. Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Finance Minister Andrzej Domański criticized the veto, while political tensions around the measure have been sharpened by allegations tied to Zondacrypto, a Polish-founded exchange registered in Estonia that is under investigation over suspected fraud and money laundering affecting about 30,000 customers who lost at least 350 million zloty. Without the law, the KNF has warned Polish crypto firms may be unable to obtain licenses required under EU rules after July 1, potentially forcing domestic operators to seek authorization elsewhere in the bloc.