4 changes in the crypto act in Q1 2025
Work on the amendment to the act on digital assets has entered a decisive phase. Suprasorte monitors every move of the parliamentary subcommittee, because the changes will affect almost every entrepreneur in the fintech industry in Poland. Facts matter, not promises, which is why we have collected specific points that you must implement by March 14, 2025.
Share capital will increase by 215,000 PLN
Parliamentary print no. 842 assumes that every cryptocurrency exchange operating in Poland must demonstrate higher financial security. The new minimum amount is 1,245,000 PLN. This money must be in a separate technical account in a bank with its registered office in the European Union. This is a change that will hit 43 smaller entities registered in Warsaw and the surrounding area, which have so far benefited from low entry thresholds. Funding must be confirmed by an external audit by January 27, 2025.
At Suprasorte, we know that finding a bank willing to open such an account takes an average of 46 business days. We know the corridors of the Parliament and we receive signals that the Ministry of Finance does not plan any transitional period for new applications. If your capital does not match to the penny, KNF may withdraw the entry in the register within 14 days of the inspection. We act quickly and precisely, so we advise checking the company's balance sheet even before Christmas to avoid an operational block in March.
We know the corridors of Parliament and we know that this provision on capital is no longer subject to any negotiation.
No more anonymous wallets over 845 euros
The second key change concerns KYC procedures. New regulations force full identity verification for every transaction that exceeds the equivalent of 845 euros. Until now, many stationary exchange offices and online platforms applied higher limits, often reaching 1,000 euros. Now the system must automatically block the transfer until the user sends a scan of the document and passes biometric verification. The average time for such a procedure in the largest Polish fintechs is currently 11 minutes, but it may lengthen with the new requirements.
Suprasorte participated in public consultations, where we fought to maintain the 1,000 euro threshold. Unfortunately, EU directives are inexorable. 94.6% of exchanges will have to rebuild their APIs by February 12. Failure to integrate with new databases of restricted documents will result in an administrative penalty of 14,300 PLN for each day of delay. Fintech is our specialty, so we see that many companies ignore this technical aspect, focusing only on marketing, which is a straight path to high fines.
Reports to KNF every 27 calendar days
The rhythm of reporting to the regulator is changing. Instead of the current quarterly summaries, a monthly obligation is introduced. Each entity must send an XML file in format 2.4 by the 7th day of each month. The report must contain the total turnover, the number of new accounts and – which is a novelty – a list of all rejected transactions due to suspicion of money laundering. The first such report for February 2025 will have to be sent by March 7. This is a huge burden for compliance departments, which are already working at full speed.
Suprasorte's analysis indicates that manual preparation of such a report takes an average of 3.2 hours for every hundred clients. With a database of 11,284 users, without automation, the office will simply come to a standstill. Facts matter, not promises: the regulator will not accept excuses about a server failure. In 2024, we already saw 18 cases where a 2-day delay ended with an inspectors' visit to the company's headquarters. It is worth checking whether your CRM system allows exporting data in the new standard.
An error in one line of the XML report code can cost 14,300 PLN in fines for each day of delay.
Personal liability of the management board from May 14
This is probably the most controversial provision. From mid-May 2025, members of the management boards of crypto companies will be liable with all their private assets for errors in the segregation of client funds. If users' money is mixed with the company's working capital, the prosecutor's office will be able to initiate proceedings ex officio. This is the effect of the implementation of the MiCA regulation, which Poland is implementing with a 3-month delay relative to the original plans. There are currently about 423 high-level managers working in Warsaw who are directly affected by this change.
Suprasorte Strategic Lobby has prepared a special brief for management boards, which explains how to protect oneself against such liability. We act quickly and precisely – we suggest immediate separation of bank accounts and appointing an independent asset protection inspector. According to our statistics, only 12% of companies in the fintech sector currently have correctly constructed deposit terms. The rest risk not only the company's money, but also their own houses or cars. The time for corrections ends exactly on February 28 at 11:59 PM.
