- Sławomir Mentzen openly stated that both Donald Tusk and Jarosław Kaczyński do not understand the cryptocurrency market – one associates them mainly with the “Russian mafia”, the other simply wants to ban them.
- The Confederation submitted its own draft bill on cryptoassets to the Sejm – only 14 pages long, implementing only the minimum requirements of the EU MiCA regulation (so-called EU+0).
- The government project is over 100 pages long and introduces over-regulations, including the possibility of blocking stock exchange websites by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority without a court decision.
- Both largest parties – KO and PiS – show hypocrisy and a lack of basic knowledge about the industry that has been operating in Poland for 13 years.
- Excessive regulation threatens to completely push Polish companies abroad, lose control over customer data and paradoxically weaken security instead of increasing it.
In his parliamentary speech, MP Sławomir Mentzen sharply criticized both Donald Tusk and Jarosław Kaczyński for their lack of knowledge about the cryptocurrency market. According to Mentzen, the KO leader associates cryptocurrencies mainly with the “Russian mafia”, and the PiS leader simply wants to ban them. At the same time, the Confederation submitted its own draft bill on cryptoassets – only 14 pages long, implementing only the minimum EU requirements (so-called EU+0). For comparison, the government project has over 100 pages.
Mentzen recalled that Bitcoin was created in 2009, and in Poland cryptocurrencies became popular in 2013. For the next 13 years, no government – neither PiS nor Platform – was interested in the security of stock exchange customers. Not a minute was spent on it. The only thing that really kept politicians occupied was taxing transactions and introducing AML regulations that allow the state to track who is buying and selling crypto.
The industry itself has repeatedly called for market regulation. Representatives of the sector approached Mateusz Morawiecki’s government with ready-made proposals, wanting to avoid the “Wild West”. However, the government was not interested in security – it focused only on taxes. At the same time, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority included almost every cryptocurrency company on its warning lists, and banks automatically closed accounts of entities from the industry. As a result, Polish cryptocurrency companies had to move abroad, and Polish clients had to use the services of foreign exchanges.
MiCA changed everything, but not for the better
The situation changed only when the European Union adopted the MiCA regulation, which entered into force at the end of 2024. Poland had until the end of 2024 to implement it into the national order, but – as usual – it did not make it in time. Now, in mid-2026, the government suddenly panics and wants to quickly pass a “very bad law”, justifying it with the need to protect customers.
Mentzen emphasizes that MiCA itself is already very restrictive. Poland has no room for maneuver here regarding the rules of operation of the industry – it can only appoint a regulator, determine the amount of fees and the level of penalties. These are the three elements contained in the Confederation project – 14 pages of pure minimum. Meanwhile, the government project is over 100 pages of “gibberish, over-regulation and additional requirements that the EU does not require at all.”
The most scandalous element of the government bill – according to Mentzen – is the possibility of closing stock exchange websites by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority without the court’s consent. This is tantamount to the immediate destruction of the company: customers lose access to funds and cannot even file a complaint. The MP asks rhetorically:
why such nuclear weapons if the EU does not require anything similar?
Hypocrisy regarding the act on cryptoassets on both sides of the political scene
“Both of them have no idea what they are voting on.”
– concluded Mentzen.
Tusk and Kaczyński have no idea about cryptocurrencies. Some associate them only with the Russian mafia, others want to ban them completely! We are submitting our draft act on crypto-assets in the EU+0 version, covering 14 pages. The government version is over 100 pages long!
Why is it important for the Polish market?
The MP argues that excessive regulation and a chilling effect will lead to the fact that there will simply be no cryptocurrency companies in Poland. Only foreign entities will remain (as before, zondacrypto, supervised by the Estonian regulator). Polish clients will use their services anyway, but all KYC/AML documentation (i.e. data on the sources of income, taxes and finances of Poles) will flow to Cyprus, Malta or Estonia. As a result – instead of increasing security – the government will actually facilitate access to data for Polish services… Russian intelligence.
Sławomir Mentzen’s speech is one of the most substantive voices in the cryptocurrency debate in the Polish parliament in recent years. It shows clearly: the problem is not the lack of regulations, but their excess and incompetence. The cryptocurrency market in Poland has existed for over a decade. It’s time to stop treating it as a threat and start treating it as a normal, innovative industry that simply wants to operate within the framework of EU rules – without Polish “legislative creativity”.
The EU+0 version of the Confederation project has already been submitted to the Sejm. Now the question is whether any of the major political forces will be able to put aside ideological prejudices and support a solution that actually protects both customers and the Polish market. For now, everything indicates that Tusk and Kaczyński still have… no idea about this matter.
