Poland’s lower house, the Sejm, failed on September 4, 2026, to override President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of the May 15, 2026, crypto-asset market law. The official record of vote No. 15 at the Sejm’s 64th sitting shows 241 votes to override, 198 against, and three abstentions, out of 442 members voting. A three-fifths majority required 266 votes. The override fell 25 votes short.
The law would have made the KNF, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, the country’s crypto-asset supervisor under MiCA. It was the third time Poland’s attempt to designate one was blocked. Without that designation, crypto-asset service providers based in Poland cannot apply for authorization or passport their services to other EU countries.
MiCA leaves the choice of supervisor to national law
Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, known as MiCA, has applied directly across the EU since December 30, 2024. Article 93(1) requires each member state to designate its competent authority in national law. The regulation sets the licensing conditions and the obligations, but it does not name that authority, set up the national penalty regime, or lay down how applications are reviewed. An implementing law has to do all three. Poland has not passed one.
With no designated authority, no application from a crypto-asset service provider based in Poland can be reviewed. With no review, there is no authorization. And with no authorization, there is no passport under Article 65, which lets a licensed provider serve customers in other member states.
E-money tokens are the one segment with a supervisor
An e-money token is a crypto-asset that keeps a stable value by referencing a single official currency. MiCA treats it as electronic money, and therefore as a payment instrument, and only credit institutions and e-money institutions may issue one. The KNF remains the competent authority for these issuers under Article 3(1), point (35)(b). That makes e-money tokens the only part of the Polish crypto market that still has a supervisor.
The July 1, 2026, transition deadline has passed
Article 143(3) of MiCA let service providers that operated under national law before December 30, 2024, keep doing so until July 1, 2026, or until they were granted or refused authorization, whichever came first. In Poland, those were mainly firms on the register of virtual currency activities kept by the Tax Administration Chamber in Katowice.
The UKNF had spelled out what would follow. Without a designated authority, Polish firms would lose the right to provide crypto-asset services on that basis at the deadline, until they obtained authorization. But no authorization proceedings can start until a law designates the authority. The deadline cannot be extended by statute or by a KNF decision.
The blocked law would have given the KNF broad powers
| Provision | Content |
|---|---|
| Competent authority | The KNF supervises the crypto-asset market under MiCA. |
| Interim measures | Freezing of fiat or crypto-asset accounts and suspension of specific transactions for 96 hours, extendable to up to six months. |
| Register | A register of dishonest internet domains used for crypto-asset activity. |
| Supervision fees | Capped at 0.5% for token issuers and 0.4% for service providers. |
Nawrocki vetoed the law on June 11, 2026, and his request for reconsideration was registered at the Sejm as print No. 2710 on June 17. He says he supports regulating the sector but objects to the regulatory cost and to the scope of the powers given to the authorities, including the power to restrict access to websites. Finance and Economy Minister Andrzej Domański says he favors filing a fourth, identical government bill, though no decision has been made.
The Zondacrypto case hangs over the debate
The vote came as prosecutors pursue an investigation into Zondacrypto, the exchange formerly known as BitBay. Supporters of the law cited the case in its favor.
The Sejm can no longer pass the vetoed law. A fourth version would have to start again at first reading, and would again need a three-fifths majority if it drew another veto. Providers licensed in another member state can keep serving the Polish market. Those based in Poland have no route to a license until a designation law is passed.