What you need to know about the crypto license in Poland
The Polish Ministry of Finance is the regulatory body charged with supervising Virtual Assets Services Providers. Within the Ministry of Finance works the Tax Administration Chamber in Katowice, who under delegation of the Ministry issues the crypto licenses. There is also the GIIF (General Inspector of Financial Information), which is the AML regulator, but does not issue licenses, rather only makes inspections of licensed companies.

This framework for crypto businesses has been up since the AML Act of 2018 and reinforced by the official governmental position on cryptocurrencies, stated by the Polish FSA position of December 2020.

The Polish crypto license covers a wide range of activities: custodial services, fiat to crypto exchange, crypto to crypto exchange, etc. AML/KYC rules that apply are defined by the AML Act of 2018, which is in broad terms in line with the FATF Guidelines on the matter.

Just recently (beginning of 2024) the Polish Finance Ministry published a new draft legislation focusing on the crypto license in Poland under the MiCA Regulation (“Markets in Crypto-Assets”).
The required minimum share capital for a Polish crypto license company is 5,000 PLN (approximately 1,200 EUR).

Poland is a growing European economy and has become the home of many major players in the crypto industry (such as Binance, Transakk, BoomFi and many others).

The crypto industry in Poland especially flourished since many companies shifted their activities from harsher jurisdictions such as Estonian crypto license and Lithuanian crypto license. This is due to the fact that the Polish framework is significantly more advantageous in terms of cost and operating requirements. In Poland cryptocurrency is NOT considered legal tender.

Three points to remember about the Poland crypto license:
The Tax Administration Chamber in Katowice issues the crypto license in Poland;
The license covers a vast number of crypto related business models, making it an enabling element and accelerator of business for crypto projects;
There are alternatives to the Polish license, but Poland is one of the fastest licenses one could obtain to go to market quickly.

Crypto license in Poland: process and timeline
The process and timeline to obtain a crypto license in Poland is simple and short. It’s one of the fastest tracks to get a VASP license in the EU and being able to access banking services for crypto activities.

Starting from scratch (Incorporation + Application for the Polish VASP license), it takes around 3 months to finalize a Polish crypto company. After that, the entrepreneur shall have all the required documents to initiate the onboarding process with a bank.

The process can be shortened to about 6-7 weeks, by purchasing a ready-made crypto license company in Poland.

Currently, there are no residency requirements to obtain and maintain the Polish license. This means there is no need for personnel to be citizens or residents of Poland. No need for a local office space, a legal address is sufficient. In case you still wish to obtain a local office space, we are also able to assist you with that.

A Polish VASP’s team should be composed, as a minimum, of a director and an AML officer. Both shall demonstrate competence (experience or knowledge of the field) or undergo a training on AML compliance in Poland.

The process to obtain the Polish crypto business license is streamlined as such:

Company formation with a legal address
Gathering necessary information & documents of the founders
Compiling necessary AML and compliance documents (including suggested Risk Matrix, AML procedures and others)
Application to the Polish authorities to receive the license
Opening a corporate account in a crypto friendly bank
To successfully begin the set-up of a crypto project in Poland, the applicant will eventually need to prepare the following documents (all of which we are able to assist):

ID documents of participants (passport, driving license, proof of residency…)
Details of the director and AML officer
Short description of the business activities (orally is sufficient)
Certificate of incorporation (if applying for an existing company)
AML/KYC policies & procedures

Different VASP licenses in Poland
There is a single process to obtain the crypto license in Poland. Technically, the process changes slightly depending on the exact activities that the company is registering for. The license covers many possible activities, but it is still compulsory to describe the intended activities and services to be provided, while applying for the license.

The Polish crypto license is, in simpler words, a validation by the authorities that your business is compliant with AML/KYC requirements as described in the AML Act of 2018.

A licensed crypto company in Poland can:

Provide custodial services for crypto assets;
Provide the service of exchanging fiat for crypto and reciprocally;
Provide the service of exchanging crypto assets for other crypto assets;
Issue a token or cryptocurrency (provided the virtual asset is duly qualified as being legal and not a security nor a financial instrument);
Other specific activities (request a consultation for more details).