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Poland's lower house votes 240-202 for a sanctions law that lets officials freeze crypto before a court rules
Summary
Poland's Sejm passed the government-backed Act on Restrictive Measures on Friday by 240 votes to 202 with one abstention, and sent it to the Senate on Monday, Cointelegraph and Bitcoin Magazine reported.
The bill explicitly counts crypto assets, as defined under the EU's MiCA regulation, among the funds authorities can freeze for people and companies placed on Poland's national sanctions list, which the interior minister would oversee, according to both outlets.
Listings take effect the day after publication, and while those affected can challenge them in administrative court, the bill lets enforcement proceed before any ruling; Bitcoin Magazine said the decision stays in force until a judgment becomes final.
The Senate has 30 days to approve, amend or reject the bill before it goes to President Karol Nawrocki, who Bitcoin Magazine noted refused to sign a separate crypto-assets market bill this year.
Key facts
- Cointelegraph: the bill would broaden sanctions grounds to include certain foreign interference and information manipulation that pose a serious threat to national security.
- Cointelegraph: if the Senate takes no action within 30 days, Poland's Constitution treats the bill as approved in the form the Sejm passed.
- Bitcoin Magazine: the freeze applies only to listed people and entities, not ordinary bitcoin holders, and banks and exchanges face administrative fines if they fail to freeze listed assets.
- Bitcoin Magazine: the text does not describe a way for officials to obtain keys to self-custodied coins, so enforcement runs through exchanges, custodians and other obliged institutions.
- Bitcoin Magazine: in September lawmakers failed to override Nawrocki's veto of the earlier crypto market bill, voting 241-198.