Crypto▲ Bullish
Hungary Repeals National Crypto Rules to Fall In Line With EU MiCA
Hungary repealed its national crypto conversion rules and criminal sanctions, aligning with EU MiCA and removing a compliance step that had disrupted exchange services.
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Hungary has scrapped its own national rules on crypto-asset conversions, aligning with the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. The Hungarian Parliament passed Act XXXVIII of 2026 in late July, a law that repeals certain statutory provisions covering crypto-asset conversion services. It took effect August 7.
The change removes a requirement unique to Hungary. Previously, parties converting crypto into fiat or other crypto had to get a compliance statement from a licensed local validating service provider first. Those rules, effective from July 1, 2025, demanded verification of the asset's origin, wallet ownership, and the identities of the parties involved. Without that certificate, the transaction was legally ineffective and could carry criminal liability.
That extra layer went beyond MiCA's harmonized standards, creating friction for exchanges serving the Hungarian market. The repeal also eliminates two specific criminal offenses from the national Criminal Code. One covered abuse of crypto-assets – exchanging significant-value crypto through an unauthorized service could bring up to two years in prison, five for particularly high-value cases. The second targeted unauthorized provision of exchange services in violation of the validation duty, with penalties up to three years or eight in aggravated circumstances.