In the list of anti-cryptocurrency countries, Poland never were. It seemed that this Eastern European country is moving towards the adoption of cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technology. Recently, however, revealed the false campaign of the National Bank of Poland against the cryptocurrency forced to question the intentions of Poland.

The NBP acknowledged that he paid a number of YouTube bloggers about 21,000 USD to those on their channels discouraged Polish citizens to invest in cryptocurrencies.

The Bank called it “educational campaign,” which aims to articulate all the risks associated with cryptocurrencies, but in the end it was outright slander, which raises questions about the true attitude of the Polish government in the cryptocurrency.

Poland, like most countries in the EU, never showed any true dissatisfaction with the cryptocurrency, before this last campaign, openly discrediting them. In 2013 officials of the Ministry of Finance of Poland said:

“What is not forbidden is allowed. However, we certainly cannot consider Bitcoin a legitimate currency.”

In 2015, the Polish Ministry of Finance made a statement:

“Any regulation aimed at solving problems of digital currencies should take or as a result of initiatives at EU level, either because of the risk of market failure of cryptocurrencies”.

In his interview Philip Godeke, Director for work with clients large Polish cryptocurrency exchange Bitcurex, called the government’s position neutral:

“It’s hard to talk about negative trends. The attitude towards Bitcoin in Poland is neutral as in most countries of the European Union. Regulators are looking at them from a distance, waiting for what will happen next. With banks the situation is similar”.

In February 2017, the country officially recognized trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Although it is obvious that a clear position regarding cryptocurrencies the government does not. Yet they just allow you to function.

One of the main indicators of the fact that the Polish government friendly to Bitcoin, became released in March 2017 guidelines promoting the digitization of national cryptocurrency market and helping startups.

Behind these recommendations was followed by several other programs designed to promote cryptocurrency technologies, for example, the Ministry of administration and digitalisation “Blockchain/DLT-flow and digital currency.”

It is important to note that the banking system in Poland was very pleasant, and is much more liberal than in many other European countries. Poland was representative of the British stock exchanges and even the infamous cryptocurrency exchange Mt.Gox.

Evaluating all the facts, very surprised that the Polish Central Bank launched its deceitful campaign that was conducted a completely shameless manner.

Journalist Carole Paciorek briefly explained the scheme of the campaign:

“Between the Central Bank and three large YouTube channels has already signed agreements about the placement of the video: Marcin Dubiel – 937 000 subscribers; Wiśnia – 818 000 subscribers; and Planeta Faktów 1 million subscribers. This is an educational campaign paid by the government organization. Indications that the sponsor material was not.”.

Masik Bozic from Mediafun Blog showed response to the NBP, which included the amount spent. In Poland every citizen has the right to contact the government regarding public expenditure.

All of the above suggests that it is too early to judge what position will Poland when it comes to regulation of cryptocurrency in the country.

The opinion of the Central Bank is already known. On the main page the information portal of the Bank published this information:

“Virtual currency is not money.This is a digital implementation of the contract price between two users that is not available and are not guaranteed by any Central Bank in the world, unlike the Polish zloty, issued by the National Bank of Poland. Another risk is the lack of universal acceptance of cryptocurrency. Virtual currency will not be accepted brand in all retail stores and services. They are not legal tender or currency.”

After it became known that “opinion bloggers” paid by the Central Bank and, in fact, is not their opinion, local capturador under the name “Polish Crypto Guru” told about the reaction of Polish citizens: “People either got angry or ignored, but positive reaction was not. Anyway, in my country citizens are not happy with the government”.

According to Polish Crypto Guru, in Poland also prostanoids promotion of the blockchain and Finance.

“We have a Ministry of administration and digitalisation, but the Minister, who has established a working group on the blockchain — Anna Stranska, was fired three months ago. She sought to create in Poland a favorable environment for cryptocurrencies, and for me it was one of the best Ministers. Now, most likely, the working group on the blockchain will be eliminated.”

It is unclear why the Central Bank decided to act in this way. Obviously, they are obliged to inform about the risks of cryptocurrency investment, but why keep a “covert game”? Why not to declare his opinion openly as they had previously done? Why pursue the hidden and deceitful campaign? And the most important question — what is the real position of Poland in relation to cryptocurrencies?

The post Friends or foes: the strange attitude of the Polish regulators with cryptocurrencies appeared first on FineCrypto.