Due to the fact that Poland delays local legislation related to MiCA implementation, there are various doubts about the transition period duration. In this Article we present comprehensive analysis about the MiCA grandfathering period in Poland as of 19-03-2025.
How MiCA regulates the transition period
Article 143 sec. 3 of MiCA sets forth as follows:
"3. Crypto-asset service providers that provided their services in accordance with applicable law before 30 December 2024, may continue to do so until 1 July 2026 or until they are granted or refused an authorisation pursuant to Article 63, whichever is sooner.
Member States may decide not to apply the transitional regime for crypto-asset service providers provided for in the first subparagraph or to reduce its duration where they consider that their national regulatory framework applicable before 30 December 2024 is less strict than this Regulation.
By 30 June 2024, Member States shall notify to the Commission and ESMA whether they have exercised the option provided for in the second subparagraph and the duration of the transitional regime."
As apparent from the above, as a rule, the final date of the MiCA grandfathering period is 01-07-2026. However, each EU country was allowed to execute shorter transition period. The decision about that was supposed to be communicated to EU authorities no later than 30-06-2024.
As a consequence of the above, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a list of grandfathering periods in EU member states available here:
List of grandfathering periods decided by Member States under MiCA
In the file presented above, ESMA noted the following:
"* Please note that some of these grandfathering periods have been communicated to ESMA by national competent authorities, reflecting their current expectations on national grandfathering period, but that some of these periods may not have been incorporated into national law yet. This list is being shared on that basis to facilitate industry preparations ahead of MiCA."
In other words, some countries declared their expectations about the transition period, even if the decision about that has not yet been made.
What is the situation in Poland
As of the day of this Article publication (19-03-2025), Polish authorities have still not passed any formal decision about the end of the MiCA grandfathering period. It means that for now, standard MiCA rules apply. In other words, as of 19-03-2025, the binding date of the end of the transition period is 01-07-2026. In practice however, the situation is more complicated, because Polish authorities are still processing drafts of Polish crypto law to make the transition period shorter. Therefore, detailed analysis of the situation is required.
So far, Polish authorities have made following steps:
- on 23-02-2024 they published initial draft of the Polish crypto law implementing MiCA. On that date, they proposed 31.12.2025 as the end date of the transition period.
- at some point (before 30-06-2024), the Polish authorities notified EU authorities that Polish MiCA transition period will end on 30-06-2025. After all, however, they have not passed any law which actually makes the grandfathering period shorter. Therefore, despite declaring such intent,Polish authorities have not adopted any shorter MiCA transition period yet.
- Until now, the draft is still being processed and is at an early stage of legislation procedure. The draft is being updated on a regular basis on the government level. It has not yet been sent to Polish parliament for legislation procedure. Recent version of the draft specifies that the MiCA grandfathering period will end on 30 -06-2025 or 30-09-2025 for companies which apply for MiCA until the 01-05-2025. This timeline however is no longer possible to meet for the following reasons:
- the law about transition period is on very early stage; the parliament procedure has not even started yet; considering that the parliament procedure usually takes 2-3 months, and the law binding date will start on 14 days after the final law publication, earliest expected date when the decision on transition period starts to be binding is late June 2025. It is worth adding that this is a very optimistic scenario and most likely actual timeline will be significantly longer.
- Until the Polish crypto law is passed, it is not possible to apply for MiCA CASP licenses because there is no competent authority to process the applications. Therefore, Polish VASPs still cannot effectively apply for MiCA license. It means that applying for MiCA licenses in Poland will most likely be possible not earlier than late June 2025.
- As a consequence, it is hard to expect that the final date of the transition period will be set on 30-06-2025. If so, it would not be practically possible to obtain the CASP license in Poland.
- As a consequence of the above, an update of the transition period end date is expected soon in the draft. Recent unofficial information from the Polish Ministry of Finance suggest that the proposed transition period will be 4 months from the Polish crypto law applicability date. If so, it will start to count earliest from late June 2025, but probably even a few months later (considering the legislation process delays). If so, the end of the transition period would be late October 2025. In our opinion, however, due to further delays, it is reasonable to expect another postponement of a few months.
Status of works on the crypto law draft on the government level may be tracked here:
Draft link
When all points are completed, the law will be sent to the Polish parliament, where it must pass all legislation stages, which usually takes 2-3 months.
Legal doubts about the possibility of making a shorter transition period
In the light of the above, it is important to add that the potential adopting of shorter MiCA transition period after 30-12-2024 is highly questionable. Such a decision very likely might be considered as a breach of MiCA itself and the basic rule of law. For example, following arguments may be made to support the opinion that MiCA transition period in Poland may no longer be shortened:
- Breach of MiCA itself. The MiCA authorization to make shorter transition period expired on 30-06-2024 or latest on 30-12-2024.
- Protection “of vested rights”. It is one of the basic principles binding in countries obeying the rule of law. In Poland it is assured by Article 2 of the Polish Constitution. Polish VASPs eligible to use the transition acquired such right on 30-12-2024. The right expires on 30-06-2026. Depriving them of that right before this deadline is possible only in exceptional situations.
MiCA grandfathering period – summary
- Effective of the date of this Article, MiCA transition period in Poland has not been shortened. It ends on 01-07-2026.
- In particular, it is not true that the transition period in Poland ends on 30-06-2025. Despite declaring such intent, Polish authorities did not pass such decision after all. As a result, ESMA document with reference to Poland is not up to date. It merely reflects initial intent of the Polish authorities, but not their final decision.
- The final decision about the grandfathering period end date has not yet been made. In order to do so, Polish authorities must pass relevant law. The expected timeline of legislative procedure is at least 2-3 months, but probably longer.
- Until the law is passed, it is not possible to apply for MiCA CASP licenses in Poland.
- There are serious legal doubts whether or not the Polish authorities are still allowed to shorten the transition period.
- In present situation, it is reasonable to expect that MiCA transition period in Poland will end not earlier than late October 2025, but most likely even few months later.
