Poland’s domestic political passions have led to the fact that the adoption of regulatory acts regulating the cryptocurrency industry has been severely delayed, and service providers working in this field have problems predicting the future of their business in Poland. Opportunity for Latvia! Economy Minister Viktors Valainis (ZZS) has already managed to convey the message to Polish entrepreneurs: “Come to us!”
On January 12, Polish crypto and financial technology companies discussed alternatives for obtaining a MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) license in the European Union (EU). A closed international industry event “Crypto Crisis Averted: Explore Alternatives” was held in Warsaw (Warsaw School of Economics), which brought together 200 representatives of Polish crypto and fintech companies.
V. Valainis has already sent a personal letter to Polish cryptocurrency companies urging them to choose Latvia as a strategic partner.
Poland is busy, but in Latvia the door is already open
Reinis Znotiņš, executive director of the Latvian Blockchain Association (LBAA), comments on the situation: “I am currently in Warsaw. We just met with several Polish legal offices. Our delegation includes representatives of the Bank of Latvia, the Latvian Blockchain Association, the law offices “Sorainen” and “Volless”, the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia. We are trying to actively address those companies.
There are currently more than 1,400 registered and active cryptocurrency companies in Poland, but Polish President Karol Nawrocki has vetoed a law that would have to comply with an EU regulation to allow these cryptocurrency companies to be licensed. They should get a license by July, but the law is still not in force.
Meanwhile, in Latvia, this law and the EU regulation were already adopted last summer. Polish companies don’t have many options, because they still can’t get a license in Poland, so we approached them by inviting them to Latvia.
The Latvian delegation has organized the event together with influential Polish banks and cryptocurrency companies. We invite cryptocurrency service providers. More than 240 representatives of these companies have applied. We will continue to work by organizing meetings with the Bank of Latvia and the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia in order to attract these companies to register and invest in Latvia.
Our idea is to attract these companies so that Latvia’s economy, economy, and finances can get tax revenues and highly paid jobs. We see that Lithuania, for example, has built its fintech story and over 500 fintech companies have been established there in the last five years. They have been licensed, created new jobs and are building new houses in Vilnius.
If such companies will operate in Latvia, it will be a great benefit in personal income tax alone, and in other taxes as well.”
Crooks will have no place in the crypto business
Residents of Latvia often encounter phone calls from fake brokers who try to defraud them of money. Although cryptocurrency is not a very new phenomenon, it tends to be associated with fraud in people’s minds.
To that, Reinis Znotiņš explained that it is only about licensed companies. “These companies will be required to be licensed by financial institutions, they will have supervision, they will have to conduct regular audits and other inspections – they will be monitored just like any other financial company. This will improve the safety of consumers, and such companies, which will try to start doing something fraudulent, will not be able to get a license at all. We are only addressing such companies who will and will be able to do this business seriously and will get a license.
The European Parliament has recognized that cryptocurrency service providers, like banks, like crowdfunding platforms, are legitimate and supervised financial institutions.”
Does the idea of attracting cryptocurrency services in Latvia have enough support – does the Bank of Latvia have enough resources, capacity?
“I think it is – the Bank of Latvia will have to issue licenses, it has already issued two. We expect that there will be much more. It is also known from the industry association that there are several large and powerful companies that have applied for a license with the Bank of Latvia. This direction is strongly supported by the Ministry of Economy, Minister of Economy Viktors Valainis, and there is also support from the Bank of Latvia,” said Reinis Znotiņš.
Does the direction of cryptocurrency have support in the government, in the ruling coalition?
“Judging by the decisions that have been made so far, there is mostly support for this direction. I think that the politicians see that there are potentially very important tax revenues, new jobs. The economy is currently not doing as well as it would like, but this is a new sector that can flourish and bring benefits to the country,” said an industry expert.
How to explain the vicissitudes of Poland – why is this direction currently suppressed there? Have cryptocurrency services become too much for Poles?
Reinis Znotiņš said that he had discussed this topic with several prominent Polish lawyers. The Polish Parliament (Seim) delayed until the last moment and did not adopt the EU regulation, which Latvia already adopted last year. Then, when the law was finally passed, the Polish president vetoed it. One of the arguments is that the supervision costs are too high for the Bank of Poland. There are also arguments about the quality of the text of the law, which the president does not like – he would like better rules. Here, the opposition between the parliament and the president’s office is marked as to what this regulation should look like, not to the fact that it is not needed at all.
Kbut Poit rained in the brake, Latvime anddon’tnto is possibleju? Go edosies?
Yes, it can be interpreted that way, admits Reinis Znotiņš: “We are ready to become a part of this global market. I hope that we will only move forward faster so that Latvia becomes the Web3 center in Europe. We are no longer in the “gray zone”. We are in a legal and regulated environment where Latvia can become the financial technology capital of the region, if we act quickly.”
date:2026-02-14 15:54:00
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