Hungary Now Criminalizes Unauthorized Crypto Trading – Up to 2 Years in Prison

[etfs]

Just a heads-up for anyone dealing with crypto in Hungary (or servicing Hungarian users): the country has officially updated its Criminal Code, and it’s a big shift.

As of July 1, anyone using an unauthorized crypto exchange in Hungary could now face up to 2 years in prison.
What’s considered a crime now?

Basically, if you use or run a crypto exchange not authorized by Hungarian regulators, you're at risk. Here's how it breaks down:

Using unauthorized exchanges (e.g. Binance or others not registered in Hungary):

    5M – 50M forints ($14.6K – $146K): Up to 2 years in prison

    50M – 500M forints ($146K – $1.46M): Up to 3 years

    Over 500M forints: Up to 5 years

Providing unauthorized exchange services:

    Same penalty structure, but prison time starts at 3 years and goes up to 8 years for trades over 500M forints.

No clear rules yet?

Here’s the weird part: Hungary’s own Supervisory Authority (SZTFH) has 60 days to define what “authorized” even means and how to comply.
So right now, there’s no official guidance, but the law is already active.
Revolut temporarily pulled out

UK-based fintech Revolut paused all crypto-related services in Hungary earlier this month because of this law.
They’ve now partially reinstated crypto withdrawals only, but no new trades for now. Revolut says they're working on getting a full EU crypto license.

Thoughts? Is this a smart move for crypto regulation or just more overreach?

Are Hungarian crypto users basically being forced into a gray area right now?

What even counts as "unauthorized" if there’s no list or licensing framework yet?

Would this push users further toward decentralized platforms?

Let’s discuss.
#trading #crypto #usdt #btc #coin