Poland's lower house of parliament voted 241 to 198 on Friday, September 5, with three abstentions, in an attempt to override President Karol Nawrocki's veto of a cryptocurrency regulation bill. The result fell 25 votes short of the 266 needed — a three-fifths majority — marking the third time parliament has failed to overturn the veto. Poland is now the only European Union member state without national legislation implementing the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation.
The bill, passed by the Sejm in May, would have placed crypto market oversight under the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) and brought the country into alignment with the EU-wide regulatory framework. Nawrocki vetoed the legislation for the first time in June, calling the text excessively burdensome and accusing the government of disregarding proposals prepared by his office. While the president has said he supports strengthening consumer protection, he has blocked the regulation three times in succession.
The legislative standoff is entangled with the Zondacrypto scandal, the collapse of Poland's largest domestic crypto exchange. Former CEO Przemysław Kral fled to Israel after thousands of customers reported delayed and blocked withdrawals starting in late 2025. The exchange's website went down in January 2026, trading pairs disappeared, and its native ZND token plummeted to near zero. Prosecutors estimate that customers lost at least $95 million. Radosław Piesiewicz, president of the Polish Olympic Committee, was arrested in connection with the investigation, along with a stock trader and other individuals linked to the company.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk seized the moment to accuse opposition leaders of allowing Zondacrypto to infiltrate the Polish state. Addressing the Sejm, he declared that "those who opened the door to the man behind Zondacrypto — that is, you — brought this company to the very highest echelons of power." Finance and Economy Minister Andrzej Domański added that PiS had chosen "murky crypto business interests" over the safety of Polish citizens.
In response to the third failure, the Finance Ministry is preparing a new bill. A Civic Coalition spokeswoman and Polish People's Party lawmaker Krzysztof Paszyk confirmed the effort, saying details on the timeline would be provided in the coming days. The government will, however, face the same political obstacle: the PiS bloc and the Confederation, which together form the opposition coalition, voted against the veto override in all three attempts.
The absence of a MiCA framework has tangible consequences for Polish crypto firms. Without a national law implementing the EU regulation, companies must register their activities in other member states to operate legally. MiCA, which took effect across the Union in June 2024, sets uniform requirements for exchanges, stablecoins, and crypto-asset service providers. Poland remains the sole country that has not adopted implementing legislation, creating a regulatory vacuum in a fast-growing market.
For now, industry operators continue to work in legal limbo. Drafting a new bill could take weeks or months, and legislative success depends on the government's ability to rally the 266 votes needed — a threshold that has so far proved out of reach.
Sources
- [Bitcoin.com — Polish Parliament Fails to Override Crypto Bill Veto in Tight Vote](https://news.bitcoin.com/regulation-and-legal/polish-parliament-fails-to-override-crypto-bill-veto-in-tight-vote/) (September 5, 2026)
- [CryptoBriefing — Poland lawmakers prepare fresh crypto bill after failing to override president's veto](https://cryptobriefing.com/poland-lawmakers-prepare-fresh-crypto-bill-failing-to-override-presidents-veto/) (September 5, 2026)
