The Ministry of Finance has no ‘Plan B’ regarding the regulation of online currency exchange platforms. It is not currently working on legislation to establish oversight of these entities in the event that the presidential veto of the Crypto-Assets Act is not overturned. In response to questions from cashless.pl. Regarding the future regulation of currency exchange platforms, the Ministry of Finance’s press office stated that the provisions in the Crypto-Assets Act had been subject to extensive public consultation and “will ensure the security of online currency exchange customers funds”.

Let me remind you that the issue of regulating online currency exchange platforms first arose in autumn 2024, following the revelation of problems at Cinkciarz, one of the largest operators of its kind in Poland. As it happened, work was underway at that time on implementing EU regulations on crypto-assets, and it was decided to ‘tack on’ the regulation of currency exchange platforms to the draft bill. Unfortunately, the bill was vetoed twice by the President. The first time, the ruling coalition failed to override the veto. Will they succeed the second time? We will find out in the near future, though it is not yet clear exactly when. Admittedly, the issue of a vote on this matter has resurfaced alongside problems at the Zondacrypto cryptocurrency exchange, but the vote's date has not yet been made public.

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Meanwhile, according to experts, the provisions regulating the activities of online currency exchange platforms, incorporated into the Crypto-Assets Act, could significantly restrict competition in the market. Under these provisions, online currency exchange platforms will only be able to operate under a license as a small payment institution (MPI) or a national payment institution (KIP). In practice, however, due to the low payment account balance limits for MIPs, the only option will be a KIP license. Obtaining such a license is a lengthy and costly process, so not all entities currently operating in the market will be able to afford it.

“As an industry, we support market regulation to protect consumers, but we are concerned about the way these changes are being introduced alongside the Crypto-Assets Act, in which we have been mentioned in several sections. Processing such important legislation in the form of a ‘last-minute addition’, without proper consultation and without listening to the market, is risky,” says Paweł Kidaj, Chief Operating Officer at Super Grupa (operator of over a dozen online currency exchange platforms).

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The number of operators in the online currency exchange market is declining. TMS recently decided to shut down two such websites. Previously, Payholding closed the Xkantor and Amronet websites, Dom Waluty was taken over by Walutomat, and Superkantor disappeared from the web.

According to the representatives of online currency exchange platforms I spoke to, they will be focusing in the near future on maintaining the scale of their operations and will seek to expand their offerings to include products and services beyond currency exchange alone, as Cinkciarz did in the past. This notorious currency exchange offered a mobile app with a payment card for international transactions, aiming to compete with Revolut. Walutomat has recently introduced a payment card to its range. Super Grupa also has similar plans; as it participates in consolidating the currency exchange market, it is seeking an investor.