Poland’s lower house of parliament, the House of Representatives, passed a sweeping bill to regulate the cryptocurrency industry, reinstating legislation previously vetoed by President Karol Nawrocki and sending it to the Senate for further debate.
The Crypto-Asset Markets Act, approved by 241 members of the House of Representatives on Thursday, remains unchanged from the version that was rejected earlier this month, the House press office told CoinDesk.
A spokesman explained: “The bill was read out by members of Parliament on Thursday and has been voted and approved by them and sent to the Senate, which will debate it and, if approved, go to the president, and if not, return to the House of Representatives if rejected.”
The bill aims to align Polish law with EU Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. But critics, including Nawrocki and members of the Polish cryptocurrency industry, believe it significantly exceeds EU standards, granting the Polish Financial Supervisory Authority (KNF) broad enforcement powers, including website blocking and multi-million-zloty fines.
Narrocchi’s office cited the law’s ambiguity, overreach and high compliance costs as reasons for the initial rejection, warning that the rules could harm smaller companies and allow for “one-click” domain closures, a practice that is not adopted by most EU countries. The bill, which is more than 100 pages long, has also been criticized for being too lengthy compared with simpler implementation plans elsewhere in the region.
Despite opposition, Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government reintroduced the law without changes, describing its passage as crucial to national regulation of crypto markets. With the Senate now poised to review the bill, the bill could face another showdown with the president, who still retains the power to veto the bill again.
