The NBP and the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, the Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego, warned users against the risks associated with “virtual currencies” (such as bitcoin, litecoin, ether).
The NBP and the KNF said that “virtual currencies” are neither issued nor guaranteed by a country’s central bank, they cannot be considered to be money, which means they are neither legal tender, nor a currency, they cannot be used to pay taxes, and they are not widely accepted in retail and service outlets.
“Virtual currencies” cannot be considered e-money, and they are not regulated under the provisions of the Act of 19 August 2011 on Payment Services and the Act of 29 July 2005 on Trading in Financial Instruments.