On July 14, Forbes reported that 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 classifying the digital asset transactions of hundreds of thousands of citizens as crimes. This significant policy change has caused widespread confusion and concern in the fintech sector.

Revolut, a London-based digital bank, announced on Friday evening that "cryptocurrency services in Hungary will be temporarily suspended 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 not affected.

The new Hungarian 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 USD), the sentence can be up to three years; and if it exceeds 500,000,000 Forints (approximately $1,400,000.00 USD), the sentence can be up to five years. [BlockBeats]