Poland crypto regulation stalled again as president's veto stands

Poland's lower house again failed to overturn the president's veto of a cryptocurrency regulation bill. As a large-scale fraud and money laundering probe surrounding Zondacrypto widens, Poland's gap in crypto supervision is set to continue.

On Sept. 5 (local time), Cointelegraph reported that the lower house recorded 241 votes in favour, 198 against and 3 abstentions in a vote the previous day to invalidate the presidential veto. It fell 25 votes short of the 266 needed, a three-fifths majority, to override the veto.

The bill would lay an institutional foundation to apply the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, known as MiCA, domestically and give Poland's Financial Supervision Authority, or KNF, the power to oversee the crypto market. President Karol Nawrocki (카롤 나브로츠키) has argued the bill could overregulate the industry, citing issues including regulatory costs and authorities' power to block websites.

KNF said no supervisory body has yet been officially designated in Poland to handle the crypto market. MiCA is in force across the EU, but Poland lacks a domestic supervisory system.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk (도날트 투스크), by contrast, has stressed the need to strengthen oversight, citing the Zondacrypto investigation. Ahead of the vote, Tusk disclosed part of a key witness statement and introduced a claim that there had been an arrangement to pay 2 million zloty (725,560,000 won) through a foundation linked to former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro (즈비그니에프 지오브로), and a promise to secure a presidential pardon if convicted. This remains at the witness-statement stage.