Hungary will repeal the criminal penalties for cryptocurrency transactions introduced in 2025, according to Anita Köböl, a representative of the ruling Tisza Party.
The reversal became possible after the parliamentary elections on April 12, which ended Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s 16-year rule. The pro-European Tisza Party, led by Peter Magyar, came to power, and the new administration has begun easing tensions between Hungary and the European Union after years of disputes.
Köböl described the restrictions as unnecessary.
“They made normal market activity impossible, frightened market participants, and led to a decline in trading activity across the country,” she said.
She also added that the criminal penalties introduced during the final year of Orban’s administration negatively affected several hundred thousand people.
Context
The restrictions were introduced as part of a package of amendments to the Criminal Code and the cryptocurrency market law adopted in 2025. Starting on July 1, 2025, cryptocurrency exchanges were permitted only with a compliance certificate issued by an authorized transaction validation provider. Transactions conducted without such a certificate were considered illegal, and any related asset transfers had no legal validity.
Validation providers authorized by Hungary’s supervisory authority were required to verify the origin of assets, wallet owners, devices, user profiles, and the transactions themselves using external databases.
Citizens who exchanged cryptocurrency worth between 5 million and 50 million forints (approximately $16,000 to $160,000) through an unauthorized service faced prison sentences of up to two years. For transactions ranging from 50 million to 500 million forints, the penalty increased to five years. Transactions exceeding 500 million forints carried prison terms of up to eight years.
The law forced several platforms, including Revolut, to suspend their cryptocurrency services in Hungary.
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