Poland’s MiCA Licensing Gap Leaves Crypto Firms in Limbo

Polish crypto companies cannot obtain a Markets in Crypto-Assets license at home because the country has not enacted legislation empowering its financial regulator to issue one. President Karol Nawrocki has repeatedly vetoed the implementing law, leaving around 2,000 registered virtual asset service providers in regulatory limbo as MiCA takes full effect.

The deadlock matters because only a small number of Polish firms have secured authorization elsewhere in Europe. Smaller businesses now face the prospect of closing, relocating or absorbing the cost of applying through another jurisdiction.

A MiCA license granted in one EU country can be used to serve customers across the 27-member bloc, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Polish firms could therefore apply in countries such as Lithuania, Latvia or Germany and then passport their services back into Poland.

Nawrocki argues that Poland’s proposed law gives regulators excessive powers and places startups at a disadvantage against banks and larger companies. The legislation would allow the Financial Supervision Authority to freeze customer funds for months and block websites before companies exhaust their legal appeals.

Industry executives broadly support a common European crypto framework but warn that high compliance costs and Poland’s political impasse could eliminate many domestic startups. Some have called for a regulatory testing program that would let smaller firms develop products before meeting MiCA’s full requirements.