Poland keeps crypto veto in place as Zondacrypto probe grows and MiCA supervision remains unresolved

Polish lawmakers failed again to overturn President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of a bill meant to put Poland’s crypto market under a formal national MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) framework. For high-risk PSPs, the practical point is simple: Poland still has no designated crypto supervisor, even as the enforcement and bankruptcy story around Zondacrypto keeps expanding.

1. On Friday, the Sejm voted 241-198 to override Nawrocki’s veto, with three abstentions. That was 25 votes short of the 266 needed for the three-fifths majority, so the veto stands and the bill does not move forward.
2. The blocked legislation was meant to establish Poland’s national framework for applying MiCA and place crypto market oversight under the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, KNF. KNF said on Friday that Poland still lacks a designated authority responsible for supervising the cryptoasset market, even though MiCA already applies across the European Union.
3. Nawrocki has vetoed crypto legislation three times, saying he supports regulation but считает the proposed rules too broad. His objections focus on regulatory costs and on the authorities’ power to block websites, which is the sort of detail that tends to matter when a bill starts shaping actual access to infrastructure rather than just compliance paperwork.
4. The vote landed in the middle of a widening scandal involving defunct crypto exchange Zondacrypto. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the case is tied to an expanding criminal investigation, while prosecutors are investigating suspected fraud and money laundering connected to the exchange.
5. Tusk also disclosed excerpts from testimony by a key witness, including an alleged 2 million Polish zloty ($550,000) payment arrangement involving a foundation linked to former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro. In separate testimony cited by Tusk, the witness alleged that an unnamed person promised to secure a presidential pardon if the witness was convicted.

Prosecutors merged the Zondacrypto case in July with a probe into the 2022 disappearance of Sylwester Suszek, founder of BitBay, which was later renamed Zondacrypto. In April, they said losses linked to Zondacrypto were estimated at no less than 350 million Polish zlotys ($95 million). BB Trade Estonia, the exchange’s operator, was officially declared bankrupt by an Estonian court in August, and the first creditors’ meeting is scheduled for Sept. 17.