Poland Officially Recognizes Trading in Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies
Poland has officially recognized the trading and mining of virtual currencies as an ‘official economic activity’ according to the Central Statistical Office of Poland, hereinafter GUS. GUS is Poland’s executive agency dealing with national statistics and reports directly to the Polish Prime Minister’s office.
A new classification for Bitcoin and others
A statement posted in Polish on the GUS website and machine translated says that starting Dec. 1, 2016, the issuance of electronic currency and purchase and sale of electronic currency via the internet stand classified by official statistics services in Poland.
Companies that are active in this area will be able to gain an official PKD 64.19.Z registration.
Government moving on recognizing Bitcoin
The position of Bitcoin in Poland has been undergoing a sea change, while way back in 2013 there were reports of an official from Polish Ministry of Finance as saying, “What is not forbidden is permitted. However, we certainly cannot consider Bitcoin to be a legal currency.”
Then in September 2015, the Polish Finance Ministry issued a statement to the effect, “Any regulatory action addressing the problems of trading virtual currencies.They should be taken either as a result of initiatives at the EU level with a view to the cross-border nature of the business or as a result of a threat market failure cryptocurrency.”
Poland has been one of those countries that want to tax Bitcoin profits and the unclear status of Bitcoin in Poland has been a source of anxiety as banks in Poland have moved to close accounts of clients trading in Bitcoin.
It would be interesting to see if Bitcoin can be accepted as a currency in Poland or throughout Europe as it has already been in Japan, for example.
