Poland’s lower house of parliament has again fallen short in its bid to overturn a presidential veto on national cryptocurrency legislation, leaving the country without a completed framework to implement European Union digital asset rules.
On Friday, lawmakers in the Sejm voted 241 to 198, with three abstentions, in favor of setting aside President Karol Nawrocki’s rejection of the Digital Asset Market Act.
With 442 members present, a three-fifths majority of 266 votes was required.
The motion therefore missed the threshold by 25 votes.
This marked the third unsuccessful attempt to override the same presidential objection.
The legislation would have designated Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) as the competent supervisor for crypto-asset service providers.
It was designed to transpose the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), granting the regulator tools to license firms, impose sanctions, freeze accounts, halt transactions, and restrict certain online offerings.
Supporters in Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government argue these powers are necessary to close gaps that leave investors exposed to fraud and illicit finance.
Officials have pointed to the collapse of Zondacrypto, a domestic exchange accused of mishandling customer funds on a large scale, as evidence that stronger domestic oversight is overdue.
President Nawrocki has vetoed successive versions of the bill three times—in December 2025, February 2026, and June 2026. He has stated that he favors regulation and consumer safeguards but considers the government’s drafts excessively burdensome.
In his view, the proposed rules risk pushing Polish companies to relocate to other EU jurisdictions that have adopted lighter national implementing measures.
His office submitted a package of amendments addressing judicial review of regulatory actions, the duration of account freezes, state liability for wrongful blocks, and related issues; lawmakers incorporated only one limited reporting requirement.
Poland remains the last EU member state without a completed national MiCA framework.
After the transitional period ended, domestic firms face practical obstacles in obtaining local authorization and have been compelled to seek licenses elsewhere in the bloc if they wish to continue serving customers under the new regime.
Foreign providers already authorized in other member states can still operate in Poland under passporting rules, creating an uneven playing field.
Finance Minister Andrzej Domański criticized opposition parties for blocking the measure while simultaneously criticizing gaps in consumer protection.
Government figures have indicated that a revised draft is already in preparation at the Finance Ministry, though details and timing have not been finalized.
The stalemate has turned a technical compliance exercise into a prolonged institutional dispute.
The president maintains that repeating an unamended bill does not improve it.
The government counters that continued delay leaves the market under-supervised at a moment when high-profile failures have drawn public and prosecutorial attention. Until a compromise text emerges or a future vote succeeds, Polish crypto operators will continue to navigate a regulatory gap that other EU countries have already closed.
