Poland CASP Authorisation: MiCA Status, KNF and How to Serve Poland in 2026

Why a CASP licence cannot be obtained in Poland today

MiCA is an EU regulation and has applied directly in Poland since 30 December 2024. Each member state must still designate, in national law, the authority that grants and supervises CASP authorisations. Poland has not completed that step.

The government's Crypto-Asset Market Act would make the KNF the competent authority. The President vetoed it three times, most recently on 11 June 2026, and the Sejm did not override the latest veto in September 2026. The President has since submitted his own draft to the Sejm and the government has announced a fourth draft. Until one of them is enacted and in force, there is no Polish authority with power to authorise a CASP.

The Office of the KNF (UKNF) has confirmed the consequence: no Polish public authority has been designated for CASPs, and initiating and conducting an authorisation procedure in Poland will be possible only after the competent authority is designated by statute.

What changed on 1 July 2026

MiCA Article 143(3) allowed firms that provided crypto services under national law before 30 December 2024 to continue until 1 July 2026, or until they were granted or refused a MiCA authorisation, whichever came first. Poland notified ESMA of a 6 month period, but because the implementing act never entered into force, the KNF treats 1 July 2026 as the last possible date.

During the transition those firms operated under Polish national rules, not MiCA, so they had no MiCA passport. After 1 July 2026 domestic Polish firms lost the transitional basis and cannot provide crypto-asset services until they obtain a MiCA authorisation. The KNF has stated that the deadline cannot be extended by statute or by a KNF decision.

How to serve Polish clients now: the MiCA passport

MiCA Article 59(7) lets an authorised CASP provide services throughout the EU, either through a branch or on a cross-border basis, with no physical presence in the host member state. The UKNF has confirmed that CASPs from other member states may provide services in Poland even though Poland has no designated competent authority or single point of contact.

• - Obtain CASP authorisation in an EU member state where your management will genuinely sit
• - Notify your home regulator under Article 65, listing Poland, the services and the start date
• - The home regulator passes the notification to ESMA, the EBA and host states within 10 working days
• - Start serving Polish clients from the home regulator's confirmation or, at the latest, the 15th calendar day after notifying
• - Apply Polish consumer, marketing and tax rules that sit outside MiCA, and Polish-language client communications where your marketing targets Polish consumers

Choosing a home member state for a Polish business

Polish founders and former Polish VASPs are choosing between the established MiCA regulators. The right home state is the one where your management can genuinely reside, where you can operate in the working language, and where your banking partners are comfortable. Capital, services and the statutory timetable are identical everywhere because MiCA sets them.

What a Polish CASP application is expected to involve

The substance will come from MiCA itself, which does not change between member states. A firm preparing now can build almost the entire application in advance and adapt it for Polish filing once the act is in force.

• - A Polish company with its registered office in Poland, its effective management in the EU and at least one director resident in the EU (MiCA Article 59)
• - Capital of €50,000, €125,000 or €150,000 by service class, or one quarter of fixed overheads if higher (Article 67 and Annex IV)
• - The full Article 62(2) application: programme of operations, governance, fit and proper evidence for directors and qualifying shareholders, internal controls, AML, ICT documentation, segregation of client assets, complaints handling and service-specific policies
• - DORA compliance for ICT risk and Travel Rule compliance under Regulation (EU) 2023/1113
• - Polish-language application documents, prepared for a KNF filing

Firms already regulated in Poland

MiCA Article 60 lets credit institutions, investment firms, e-money institutions (for their own e-money tokens), central securities depositories, market operators, UCITS management companies and alternative investment fund managers provide some or all crypto services by notifying their competent authority 40 working days in advance. In Poland, the KNF already supervises these firms under their sectoral licences. Whether it can receive MiCA notifications before the act is in force should be confirmed with the KNF supervision team for the specific firm.

The KNF is already the competent authority for issuers of e-money tokens, so euro or zloty stablecoin issuance by a Polish e-money institution or bank is a separate question from CASP authorisation.

Marketing to Polish clients from outside the EU

A non-EU firm cannot rely on the absence of a Polish regulator. MiCA Article 61 allows a third-country firm to serve an EU client only where the client approached it on the client's own exclusive initiative. Any solicitation of clients in the EU, by any means, removes that exemption, and a disclaimer saying otherwise has no effect. ESMA's guidelines on reverse solicitation apply in Poland as in every member state.

Preparing now for the Polish act

• - Decide whether Poland will be your home state or a host state. Many groups will hold a licence elsewhere and passport into Poland permanently
• - If Poland is the target home state, build the MiCA application now, so it is ready to file in Polish when the act takes effect
• - Check whether any EMT custody or transfer activity also needs a payment licence under PSD2, as it has since 2 March 2026 across the EU
• - Monitor the final text: the drafts differ on supervisory powers and penalties, but each designates the KNF