Poland’s PiS Proposes Total Crypto Ban As Lawmakers Review Digital Asset Bills

As Lawmakers open debate on four competing crypto bills, Poland’s former governing party has shifted its stance and introduced legislation to ban all digital asset activities in the country.

Ahead of the session, the Law and Justice (PiS) withdrew its crypto market bill after four of the party’s MPs pulled their support, and submitted a new bill pushing a total ban on digital asset-related activities in the country.

The other crypto bills submitted to the Sejm include proposals from the government and opposition parties Poland 2050 and Confederation.

While the Ministry of Finance’s draft proposes a maximum penalty of PLN 25 million, or $6.9 million, for obstructing inspections, the president’s text sets it at PLN 20 million, or $4.5 million.

Czarzasty revealed that the four bills concerning crypto market legislation will be reviewed and debated this week, and the PiS ban proposal will be considered after the process for the other bills is completed. The second reading of the bills is scheduled for Thursday, May 14.

“So the first decision is as follows: first, we will proceed with the four bills entering the Sejm today; once the legislative process for these bills is complete, we will proceed with the PiS parliamentary club’s bill, provided the club does not withdraw it,” the Sejm Speaker stated.

Czarzasty also renewed questions about the recent Zondacrypto controversy, including its alleged links to Polish political parties and Russian organized crime, and pressed for an explanation as to why President Nawrocki vetoed the Crypto-Asset Market Act twice.

Ahead of the failed vote to overturn Nawrocki’s veto of the law last month, Tusk claimed that the blocking of regulations by some Polish politicians signaled they were serving the interests of the company.

Tusk affirmed that the firm “sponsors political and social events in Poland and promotes very specific political forces,” including by financing politicians from PiS and Confederation parties. He also claimed that the president was fully aware of Zondacrypto’s situation when he vetoed the proposed regulations.

However, Zbigniew Bogucki, head of the president’s office, responded to the accusations, asserting that Nawrocki was not opposing Poland’s digital asset market regulation, but that the government had proposed a “flawed” regulatory model.

Sławomir Mentzen, leader of the Confederation party, said the new legislation would have “destroyed the Polish cryptocurrency market.” Similarly, Polish economist Krzysztof Piech praised the president’s decision, affirming that it “violated the Polish Constitution and was contrary to the EU regulation it was supposed to implement in Poland.”