Sejm passes bill to freeze listed holders' crypto assets
The Sejm passed a sanctions bill that treats listed holders' crypto-assets like cash, with the freeze staying in force until a court judgment is final.
The Sejm has passed a sanctions bill that puts crypto-assets in the same freeze bucket as cash and bank balances. On November 6, 2026, at its 68th sitting, the lower house adopted the Act on Restrictive Measures by 240 votes to 202, with one abstention. The Sejm's legislative record marks ballot 89 as passed and records a November 9 transmission to the president and the marshal of the Senate. For a broker with Polish clients, a listed person's crypto-assets count as financial means, so a wire block and a withdrawal block share one clock.
The version sent on under the Sejm's rules is dated November 6, 2026, and it is a restrictive-measures statute. Article 2(2)(h) folds crypto-assets into financial means by Article 3(1)(5) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114. Article 95 starts the act 30 days after Journal of Laws publication. Publication in the Journal of Laws has not happened, so that 30-day clock has not started, and the tracker still marks the work as unfinished.
Who can freeze, and which assets
The minister responsible for internal affairs keeps the list in the ministry's Public Information Bulletin. Article 8 allows a listing on the minister's own motion or on a request from bodies including the General Inspector of Financial Information, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), the police and the National Prosecutor. The decision is immediately enforceable, and under Article 9(2) the binding effect and the complaint clock arise the day after posting. Article 8(8) closes reconsideration and leaves an administrative-court complaint, while Article 9(5) keeps the decision in force until the judgment becomes final.
Article 6 freezes financial means or economic resources a listed person owns, holds or controls, and bars making further means available. Article 2(3) defines the freeze as blocking movement, transfer or use that would change value, location or ownership, or that would let the holder benefit. The same duty reaches persons already under an EU restrictive measure, so both lists belong on one screen. The listing does not freeze every Bitcoin (BTC) balance in Poland, only assets tied to a designated person, including assets held through an intermediary.
Article 4 limits the list to support for states under EU measures, serious human-rights abuses, linked persons and financed information interference, and only where there is a real and serious threat to Poland's security or elections, with ordinary journalism outside a knowing campaign.
What a venue with Polish clients changes
A firm that can move the assets must freeze them and stop further availability once the listing is in force. Missing that freeze, or handing means to a listed person, is an administrative offence under Article 55, which also catches crypto-asset services and control of a wallet or custody business where a measure forbids that activity. Article 59 caps the fine at 20 million złoty, set by the head of the customs and tax office. Article 63 provides six months to eight years in prison, or one year to 10 years if the property is of considerable value. Article 50 splits control among the customs and tax office, the General Inspector for anti-money-laundering obliged institutions, and KNF for the supervised firms. Article 82 lets KNF pass a listing request while banking secrecy stays intact. The practical build is a screen and a withdrawal block keyed to the bulletin the day after a name is posted.
What still has to happen
Anna Bryłka, a Member of the European Parliament and a lawyer, wrote that evening that "Procedura wpisu na listę rodzi realne ryzyko, że projekt będzie wykorzystywany przez rząd, przede wszystkim w okresie przedwyborczym", and in the same post she urged President Karol Nawrocki to veto. Her line says the listing procedure carries a real risk of government use, above all ahead of an election. The duty sits closer to a funds cutoff of the kind FinCEN used against MEXC Global than to the reporting line France drew for self-custodied crypto. Licensing remains the other Polish file: the Sejm record on the crypto-asset market act shows a failed re-adoption on September 4, 2026, after a presidential veto, by 241 votes to 198 with three abstentions, while SFC conclusions restrict unlicensed exchange titles.
Promulgation starts the 30 days in Article 95 before the freeze and the offences apply. Until a Journal of Laws date exists, a Polish-facing broker maps the bulletin and the EU list into the sanctions screen and names who blocks a withdrawal the day after a posting.
This article is informational analysis only and is not financial, investment, or trading advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and can lose substantial value rapidly. Past performance and historical patterns do not guarantee future results. Do your own research and consult a regulated financial adviser before making any investment decision.
Reporting by Karthik Subramanian. Filed 11 November 2026, 17:20 GMT.
Digital Assets Correspondent
Karthik Subramanian is a founder, writer, and technology consultant with nine years in the crypto ecosystem.
