Hungary has scrapped its rule requiring cryptocurrency validators to be licensed, following a vote by lawmakers. This change allows crypto companies like CoinCash to resume operations within the European Union’s new crypto regulations, known as MiCA.
Summary
- Hungary has repealed its mandatory crypto validator requirement after Parliament voted to remove the rule.
- The government said the previous framework drove crypto firms out of the market and disrupted trading activity.
- CoinCash has received Hungary’s first MiCA license and plans to gradually resume crypto services.
- The latest changes move Hungary’s crypto rules closer to the European Union’s MiCA framework.
On Tuesday, Hungary’s Parliament voted to eliminate the requirement for third-party verification of some cryptocurrency transactions, according to the tax and legal news source Ado.hu.
Finance Minister Kármán András announced the government is dropping a previous rule because it was causing problems for the crypto market in the country, leading some companies to leave or pause their operations.
András posted on Facebook that Hungary’s stricter rules had forced many crypto companies to close down, but he believes the market is now starting to bounce back after those rules were changed.
This change eliminates an extra step in approving crypto transactions that was running parallel to the new MiCA regulations. However, it doesn’t alter the existing rules requiring crypto companies to be licensed and follow compliance standards.
Hungary has removed an extra crypto approval step
This requirement for validation came about with Hungary’s new 2024 law regarding crypto assets. The law created a specific process to ensure certain cryptocurrency transactions follow the rules.
Starting July 1, 2025, any conversion between cryptocurrency and traditional money, or between different cryptocurrencies, needed to be approved by a local, licensed validator. These validators were responsible for checking where the cryptocurrency came from, making sure the owner of the digital wallet was legitimate, confirming the customer’s identity, and officially declaring that the transaction followed all the rules before it could be legally processed.
This system worked in conjunction with the EU’s MiCA regulation. Hungary sped up the timeline for crypto companies, giving them until July 1, 2025, to meet the new rules, while the EU generally allowed countries to extend the deadline to July 1, 2026.
Previous laws already made some cryptocurrency activities illegal. Recent changes to Hungary’s criminal code, specifically through the new “Crypto Act” (Act VII of 2024), now define as crimes offering crypto exchange services without permission and completing crypto transactions outside of the official system.
Previously, any crypto transactions completed without a compliance certificate were not legally recognized. Companies authorized to validate crypto conversions – and overseen by Hungary’s regulatory authority – had to verify details like who owned the wallets involved, customer information, the transaction’s background, and where the cryptocurrency came from before a certificate could be issued.
This recent change comes after new policies were announced following the April 2024 elections in Hungary. Those elections marked the end of Viktor Orbán’s 16 years as Prime Minister and led to Peter Magyar’s Tisza Party – which supports closer ties with Europe – taking power.
In June, Anita Kobol, a government spokesperson, announced that Hungary intends to eliminate jail time for cryptocurrency trading. Restrictions put in place by the previous government had decreased trading and caused some platforms to scale back their operations in Hungary.
Kobol also mentioned that the European Union is looking into whether Hungary’s old cryptocurrency regulations followed EU laws.
Back then, Minister of Innovation and Technology Zoltán Tanács criticized the previous rules as being overly strict and based on politics, not practicality. The government stated its goal was to align Hungary’s regulations with the MiCA framework.
As a crypto investor, I was pretty alarmed to read a Forbes report about Hungary’s new restrictions. Apparently, if you use a crypto service they haven’t authorized, you could face up to two years in prison for transactions worth between 5 and 50 million forints. It gets much worse, though – transactions between 50 and 500 million forints could land you five years in jail, and anything over 500 million forints could mean up to eight years. It’s a serious risk for anyone dealing with crypto there.
According to the report, people running illegal cryptocurrency exchanges could face between three and eight years in prison, with the length of the sentence based on how much money they handled.
According to a Forbes report, experts believe the new rules create confusion about what’s legally allowed for both people using and companies offering cryptocurrencies. The article also mentioned that roughly half a million Hungarians were already participating in crypto markets when these laws came out.
CoinCash has secured Hungary’s first MiCA authorization
I’m pleased to report that CoinCash, based in Budapest, has successfully navigated the evolving regulations and secured its license under MiCA. This is a significant step for the company as it operates within the new European framework.
On July 20th, Hungary’s National Bank approved MiCA licensing for Tiwala Solutions, the company behind CoinCash, as reported by Cointelegraph.
Gábor Galántai, co-founder of CoinCash, announced on LinkedIn Friday that their company is the first in Hungary to be directly approved by the national bank, following guidelines set by the European Union.
As a crypto investor, I’m really encouraged by the news that CoinCash has been authorized under MiCA! This means they can officially offer a full suite of services – everything from securely storing my crypto to letting me easily trade between different coins and even traditional money. They’re also able to give investment advice and manage my portfolio, which adds another layer of trust and convenience.
CoinCash received approval after completing a thorough compliance check that lasted several months. They paused operations back in December 2025 to ensure they met new regulations under MiCA, which were prompted by changes to existing rules in Hungary.
MiCA alignment has supported the market reopening
With Hungary maintaining its stricter rules for cryptocurrencies, a number of crypto companies had to change how they operate.
After new restrictions were put in place, Revolut stopped offering cryptocurrency services in Hungary. Other companies dealing with digital assets were also reportedly looking at moving their businesses to countries like Estonia and Lithuania. Overall, trading volume went down once the rules were implemented.
As a crypto investor, I’m really encouraged by recent changes in Hungary! Parliament just dropped the requirement for validators, and the government already said they’re getting rid of criminal penalties for trading crypto. It seems like Hungary is aligning its rules with MiCA, the EU’s upcoming crypto regulation – which is a big step forward for the space there.
Now that CoinCash has received approval from Hungary’s central bank, they plan to slowly bring back their existing services and start offering more financial products covered by new European regulations (MiCA), in addition to cryptocurrency trading.
2026-07-29 13:34