Hungary Implements New Crypto Regulations, Designating Certain Digital Asset Transactions as Crimes

According to Forbes, Hungary officially implemented one of the world's most stringent cryptocurrency regulations on July 1, forcing several large fintech companies to suspend related services and potentially criminalizing the digital asset trading activities of hundreds of thousands of citizens. This significant policy change has caused widespread confusion and concern in the fintech sector. London-based digital bank Revolut announced that it is "temporarily suspending cryptocurrency services in Hungary with immediate effect until further notice." Revolut has over 2 million users in Hungary. The company stated that it is "working to restore services as soon as possible" but did not provide a specific timeline for recovery. The suspension covers all new cryptocurrency purchases, staking activities, and top-up operations, but users can still sell existing holdings and transfer some tokens to external wallets. Revolut's other banking services are unaffected. Hungary's new regulations add two new criminal offenses: "abuse of crypto assets" and "providing unauthorized crypto asset exchange services." According to Hungary's latest revised code, individuals using unauthorized cryptocurrency trading services may face up to two years in prison for basic trading activities; if the transaction amount exceeds 50,000,000 Hungarian Forints (approximately $140,000.00), the sentence can be up to three years; and if it exceeds 500,000,000 Forints (approximately $1,400,000.00), the sentence can be up to five years. [ChainCatcher]