Poland Fails to Override Veto on MiCA Crypto Bill

Poland's parliament failed on Friday to override President Karol Nawrocki's veto of a cryptocurrency regulation bill, leaving the country as the only European Union member state yet to implement the bloc's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. The vote in the Sejm, the lower house, saw 243 lawmakers support overriding the veto, while 191 backed the president's decision, falling 20 votes short of the required three-fifths majority of 263.

The legislation, proposed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government, aimed to transpose the EU's comprehensive MiCA rules into national law. Enacted across the 27-nation bloc in 2024, MiCA establishes standards for cryptoasset service providers, stablecoin issuers and consumer protections to foster financial stability and market harmony. Poland's delay creates a regulatory gap, exposing investors and businesses to potential risks without the uniform safeguards available elsewhere in the EU.

This marked the second unsuccessful attempt by Tusk's center-left coalition to advance the bill. Nawrocki, supported by the right-wing Law and Justice opposition, first vetoed it in December, returning it to parliament for amendments. His office argued...