Polish | Crypto

Tether’s USDT stablecoin was part of a failed oil trade that reportedly cost a Polish energy giant $230 million in late 2023. The world’s largest stablecoin by market cap, Tether’s USDt, was reportedly used in a failed Venezuelan oil trade that cost Poland’s largest energy giant $230 million in late 2023, according to the Financial Times. That was after the Caracas-based state oil company, PDVSA, began demanding partial payments in USDT as a workaround to US financial sanctions. The $230 million was an advance payment paid largely in Tether USDt (USDT) in an oil trade orchestrated by Samer Awad, a former executive at Orlen Trading Switzerland (OTS), a trading subsidiary of Poland’s state-controlled energy giant, Orlen, to acquire 6 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil in November 2023 from state-owned PDVSA, the news outlet reported on Tuesday.  Read more

Polish prosecutors charged Romana Ż. with organized crime and misappropriation offenses involving $2.1 million in Zondacrypto user funds. Polish prosecutors investigating cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto, have formally charged an individual, identified as Romana Ż., with participating in an organized criminal group and allegedly misappropriating 7.8 million zlotys ($2.1 million) in user funds. Read more

Poland-founded crypto exchange Kanga has secured a Class 3 MiCA license in Latvia, enabling EU-wide crypto services as Polish lawmakers debate framework's implementation. Kanga, a crypto exchange founded in Poland, said it has obtained a Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) license in Latvia, allowing it to provide services across the European Union in accordance with the cross-border notification procedure under the framework. SIA AlphaRoute, operating under the Kanga Exchange EU brand, received a Class 3 MiCA license from the Bank of Latvia after its Supervisory Committee approved the authorization, according to a Wednesday statement shared with Cointelegraph. The license was granted on June 18 and authorizes the company to provide services, including crypto custody, trading and transfers, across the EU, said the exchange. Read more

Polish President Karol Nawrocki vetoed a bill to implement MiCA for the third time, just weeks before the end of the EU crypto framework's transitional period. Polish President Karol Nawrocki vetoed a cryptocurrency regulatory bill for the third time, which sought to implement Europe's Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) in the country. Nawrocki said Thursday he supports regulating the cryptocurrency market but argued that the government incorporated only one of 16 key amendments proposed by his office. He said that the text was nearly identical to the previous two drafts he refused. The third veto of the bill delays Poland's alignment with the EU-wide regulatory framework just weeks before the end of MiCA's transitional period on July 1. Following the end of the grace period, crypto asset service providers will be required to hold a MiCA license or stop servicing EU clients. Read more

Polish lawmakers approve a Ministry of Finance-backed crypto bill to implement the EU MiCA framework in a 241–200 vote after repeated vetoes. Polish lawmakers approved a government-backed bill Friday to bring the country’s crypto market under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework, after President Karol Nawrocki twice vetoed earlier versions. The vote took place on Friday during the 57th sitting of the Sejm in Warsaw, where lawmakers adopted the legislation in a 241–200 decision, according to official parliamentary records. Backed by the Ministry of Finance, the approved bill (No. 2529) designates the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) powers to oversee market participants, impose administrative sanctions and temporarily block accounts and transactions. Read more

The legislation, which many have criticized for being overly restrictive for the digital asset market, was reintroduced with “not even a comma” changed, according to one lawmaker. The Sejm, the lower house of Poland’s legislature, has again passed a bill that could impose restrictions on the cryptocurrency market, following the country’s president’s veto of an earlier attempt. In a Thursday vote, Polish lawmakers voted 241 for and 183 against the Crypto-Assets Market Act, a bill previously vetoed by President Karol Nawrocki. On Friday, the bill was sent to the Senate for further consideration. The crypto bill is intended to align Poland’s regulations with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework, with member states expected to transition by July 2026. The same version of the bill, which passed the lower house in September, received criticism from some lawmakers and industry advocates, who claimed it could threaten the country’s crypto market and its users.  Read more

The legislation, which many have criticized for being overly restrictive for the digital asset market, was reintroduced with “not even a comma” changed, according to one lawmaker. The Sejm, the lower house of Poland’s legislature, has again passed a bill that could impose restrictions on the cryptocurrency market, following the country’s president’s veto of an earlier attempt. In a Thursday vote, Polish lawmakers voted 241 for and 183 against the Crypto-Assets Market Act, a bill previously vetoed by President Karol Nawrocki. On Friday, the bill was sent to the Senate for further consideration. The crypto bill is intended to align Poland’s regulations with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework, with member states expected to transition by July 2026. The same version of the bill, which passed the lower house in September, received criticism from some lawmakers and industry advocates, who claimed it could threaten the country’s crypto market and its users.  Read more