Cryptocurrencies face prison time with new bill proposed in Poland

According to a draft proposed by Polish lawmakers, those who provide crypto services without permission can spend time in prison.

The proposal precedes the second reading of the country’s upcoming cryptocurrency law, which has already attracted serious criticism to threaten the survival of its domestic platform.

Controversial text to enter Polish cryptography

Working with cryptocurrencies can quickly become a dangerous job in Poland. In Poland, proposed legislative amendments attempt to attack crypto operations that do not have licenses for financial fines or even sentences.

The new provisions proposed by three MPs in the central right conservative civic platform party could completely block development of the Web3 sector, and it would lead Poland’s Crypto News Portal Bitcoin, warned in a report on Monday.

The text submitted by Joanna Frydrych, Dorota Marek, and Krystyna Skowrońska are:

“People who are not permitted to do so will carry out activities related to the provision of services in the cryptocurrency field, but will be subject to a fine of up to 5,000,000 or a maximum of five years in prison, or both.”

Poland’s Zwarty totals nearly $1.4 million, but it’s a huge amount for a small local crypto company. Other potential punishments are also very severe. The prison sentence cannot be shortened by six months, the article emphasized.

Sejm, the Polish parliamentary House, approved the bill in his first reading earlier this summer, and introduced it to the Finance Committee for further refinement.

The much-anticipated law seeks to convert the new European Union regulations based on the market for crypto assets (MICA) regulation into domestic law. Both have already been criticized by members of the Polish crypto community.

In August, the report predicted that MICA compliance costs would be shut down to 90% of the country’s exchanges, the largest crypto market in Eastern Europe. You may need to spend up to 3 million Zwarty (approximately $800,000) to get your license alone.

Representatives from the Crypto sector complained that the bill exceeded MICA standards. One of the proposals discussed was to charge a 0.5% fee on revenues from domestic coin trading platforms that are not required in the EU.

Cryptocurrency bill stirs Polish society

In addition to the crypto industry, opposition politicians have attacked government restrictions moves. Among them are law and judicial MPs Janusz Kowalski and Michał Moskal.

Poland’s newly elected President Karol Naulocki, who took office last month, is expected to reject the law if it is adopted in its current form, as previously reported by Cryptopolitan.

Commenting on the latest addition to the draft, Polish economist Professor Krzysztof Piech argued that the new provisions could lead to strange circumstances when people simply train their friends to work in cryptocurrency are punished.

It also prevents stores from accepting crypto payments and Polish artists from issuing inappropriate tokens (NFTS).

Piecchi, director of the Blockchain Technology Centre at Lazarsky University in Warsaw, was also quoted:

“This regulation is a legal nightmare. It uses nuclear weapons designed to combat large, uncertified exchanges, including enthusiasts, artists, lecturers, small entrepreneurs and others, and targets ordinary people.”

He argued that the nature of “crime” that introduces a minimum sentence for conduct is often the result of ignorance and unclear definitions (and lack of money for lawyers), and is a characteristic of a totalitarian system “not the rule of law.”

According to Jacek Walewski, the author of the article and organizer of the Public Crypto Consultation at SEJM, it is difficult to understand what Polish politicians want.

“Their idea to regulate the Polish cryptocurrency market is getting more and more strange! It’s as if MPs wanted Paul to discourage him from using cryptocurrency,” he concluded.