Poland parliament fails to override president’s MiCA veto

Poland’s parliament failed to gather the 263 votes required to overturn President Karol Nawrocki’s veto on a crypto bill designed to align the country with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). In Friday’s vote, 243 MPs opposed the override and 191 backed it.

The legislation, promoted by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government, would have implemented MiCA rules introduced in 2024 to govern the issuance and custody of crypto assets across the European Union. Poland remains the only EU member state that has not yet put the MiCA framework into domestic law.

Finance Minister Andrzej Domański warned that the absence of clear rules could turn the market into an “El Dorado for fraudsters,” leaving consumers and legitimate businesses exposed to abuse.

President Karol Nawrocki defended his veto, arguing the draft law was excessive and lacked sufficient transparency and protections for small companies. At the time of the veto he stated: “I will not sign a wrong law just because it was passed again by the parliamentary majority. A wrong law that passed a hundred times still remains a wrong law.”

This was the second failed attempt by the government to override the presidential veto after an earlier defeat in December. Lawmakers reintroduced a revised draft after the December vote; opponents of the bill have said the changes were minimal.

The dispute has involved Zonda, Poland’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The platform reportedly lobbied against parts of the draft law. Prime Minister Tusk cited intelligence material linking the platform’s origins to criminal networks, an allegation rejected by Zonda’s chief executive, Przemysław Kral, who described attempts to involve the company as harmful to Poland’s innovation market and announced plans to pursue legal remedies. Kral also stated he does not control access to a crypto wallet linked to a former CEO that has been reported to hold roughly $330 million.

Lawmakers and government officials said parliamentary debate on the topic will continue. No date has been set for another vote or for the submission of a new draft that could address the concerns raised by the president, members of parliament and industry participants.