Hungary to repeal crypto-asset conversion validation regime
The Hungarian government has published for public consultation a draft bill abolishing the crypto-asset conversion validation obligation and its associated criminal sanctions. If enacted, the Draft Bill will reverse the regime introduced in 2025, removing the requirement for crypto-asset conversions to be certified by an authorised validation service provider.
The following article explores the main consequences of these proposed changes.
No more mandatory validation of crypto-asset conversion transactions
The Draft Bill makes extensive amendments to the Hungarian Crypto Markets Act. It repeals the relevant definitions, the core validation obligation, the dedicated procedural subtitles and the enforcement provisions. As a result of these amendments, no validation will be obligatory for any crypto-to-crypto or crypto-to-fiat crypto asset conversion.
Decriminalisation
The Draft Bill amends the Hungarian Criminal Code by repealing the offences of “Misuse of crypto-assets” and “Provision of unauthorised crypto-asset conversion services”. Once in force, engaging in crypto-asset conversions without a declaration of conformity will no longer carry criminal liability for the service provider or on the user side.
An end to SARA’s crypto-related supervisory powers
The Draft Bill amends the Supervisory Authority for Regulatory Affairs (SARA) Act by repealing SARA’s authority to license and supervise crypto-asset conversion validation service providers. Therefore, SARA must terminate all ongoing licensing and supervisory proceedings relating to the validation of crypto-asset conversion services ex officio and validation service providers and SARA must irrecoverably delete all data collected in connection with crypto-asset conversions and unauthorised crypto transactions within three working days of the Draft Bill’s entry into force.
Practical impact
The Draft Bill’s preamble identifies two bases for the repeal. First, the validation requirement constitutes a restriction on competition that is incompatible with the EU’s internal market. Second, the uniform regulatory framework established by the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation already ensures that customers can access crypto-asset services in a safe, transparent and traceable manner, making the additional national validation layer redundant.
For market participants, the Draft Bill signals a clear policy reversal. Entities that have undertaken the gap analysis and compliance investment required would no longer need to maintain that infrastructure for validation purposes. Payment institutions, crypto-asset service providers and intermediaries that have built transaction flows routing in-scope conversions to authorised validators should prepare to unwind those processes.
Next steps
The public consultation is available here. Interested parties may submit their comments by 19 June 2026.
Once revised and passed, the Draft Bill will enter into force on the eighth day following its publication in the Official Gazette.
For more information on the Draft Bill and crypto-currency regulations in Hungary, contact your CMS client partner or the CMS experts who wrote this article.
The article was co-authored by János Bálint and Péter Virányi.
