Polish lawmakers again failed to assemble the three-fifths majority required to overturn President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of crypto legislation, leaving the country’s efforts to tighten oversight of the digital-asset market stalled while the Zondacrypto investigation continues to expand.
The Sejm, Poland’s lower house of parliament, voted 241-198 on Friday to override the veto, with three abstentions. That left the motion 25 votes short of the 266 needed.
The vote marked another attempt to move forward with Poland’s crypto market rules after Nawrocki vetoed the legislation three times. He has argued that the proposed framework would overregulate the industry.
Poland still lacks a MiCA supervisor
The vetoed bill was meant to create Poland’s national framework for applying the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, known as MiCA. It also would have placed oversight of the crypto market under the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, or KNF.
KNF said Friday that Poland still does not have a designated authority responsible for supervising the cryptoasset market, even though MiCA is already in force across the European Union.
Nawrocki has said he supports crypto regulation, but he argues that Poland’s draft rules go too far. He pointed to concerns about regulatory costs and the powers granted to authorities to block websites.
Zondacrypto case deepens as bankruptcy proceeds
The regulatory fight is unfolding as the scandal around defunct crypto exchange Zondacrypto grows. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, ahead of Friday’s vote, disclosed excerpts from what he described as testimony by a key witness in the investigation. According to Tusk, the testimony alleged payments and attempts to influence politicians linked to Poland’s previous government.
Tusk said the witness alleged a 2 million Polish zloty payment arrangement, equal to about $550,000, involving a foundation linked to former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro. In separate testimony cited by Tusk, the witness also alleged that an unnamed person had promised to secure a presidential pardon if the witness were convicted.
Polish prosecutors are investigating suspected fraud and money laundering connected to Zondacrypto. In July, they merged the case with a probe into the 2022 disappearance of Sylwester Suszek, the founder of BitBay, which was later renamed Zondacrypto.
In April, prosecutors said losses linked to Zondacrypto were estimated at no less than 350 million Polish zlotys, or about $95 million.
Zondacrypto’s operator, BB Trade Estonia, was formally declared bankrupt by an Estonian court in August. The first creditors’ meeting is scheduled for Sept. 17.