Hungary Scraps Prison Terms for Crypto Traders

Hungary has repealed its mandatory crypto conversion validation system and removed two related criminal offenses that exposed users and service providers to prison terms of up to eight years.

The rules took effect on Aug. 7 after Parliament approved the repeal on July 31, following a reversal that had been signaled earlier this year by the Hungarian government as it reconsidered the criminal provisions and the country's separate validation regime.

The changes remove a national compliance layer alongside the EU’s MiCA framework, which provides a common licensing framework for crypto-asset service providers across the European Union.