Poland Ethereum Ecosystem Overview

June 26, 2025

This month, let's explore Poland's thriving Ethereum ecosystem.

Poland Ecosystem

Special thanks to Paweł Bylica, Monika Zając and Martyna Jeuté for the review and the feedback.

Tl;dr

Poland has emerged as a significant hub for blockchain and Ethereum development, driven by innovative projects, a strong pool of technical talent and vibrant communities. This deep dive explores the evolution of Poland's Ethereum ecosystem, from its early days with pioneering projects like Golem and Nethermind to modern contributions such as L2beat's growth, alongside with other key players and recent developments.

1. The Pioneers: Golem, Ethworks, and Nethermind

1.1 Golem(opens in a new tab): Decentralizing Computing Power

  • Golem was founded in 2016 by Julian Zawistowski, Piotr Janiuk, Andrzej Regulski, and Aleksandra Skrzypczak in Warsaw, building on their experience at imapp and the Institute for Structural Research (IBS(opens in a new tab)). The team's deep involvement with Ethereum core development since 2014, working on EVMJIT(opens in a new tab) and C++ client(opens in a new tab) with ETHDEV, positioned them perfectly to create one of Ethereum's most ambitious early projects.
  • Golem raised 820,000 ETH (~$8.2M USD) in a groundbreaking 20-minute ICO in November 2016, creating a global "supercomputer" for rendering and scientific computations. By 2020, the project evolved to "New Golem" with a modular GLM token system, while the Golem Foundation split off to manage over $40 million in assets for research funding.
  • Golem Ecosystem Fund(opens in a new tab): backed by 40,000 staked ETH, supports projects like Clan (private device networks) and Web3Pi (accessible Ethereum nodes), advancing AI, analytics, and decentralized infrastructure.
  • Octant(opens in a new tab), launched in August 2023 by the Golem Foundation under co-founder Julian Zawistowski, is a decentralized platform using Golem's GLM token to fund public goods, leveraging 100,000 staked ETH to allocate 70% of yields to user rewards and projects like L2beat, Protocol Guild(opens in a new tab) and the Tor Project(opens in a new tab).

1.2 Nethermind(opens in a new tab)

A true powerhouse in the Ethereum space, Nethermind, though headquartered in London, has deep Polish roots and significant presence there. Their flagship product, the Nethermind Ethereum execution client, is a critical piece of the network's infrastructure, securing a substantial portion of the Ethereum.

Beyond their client, Nethermind is a leading research and engineering firm, actively contributing to core Ethereum development, Layer 2 solutions like Starknet, institutional DeFi, and cutting-edge cryptography research.

Nethermind employs over 350 team members across 66+ countries, operating with a remote-first model that allows them to attract top talent globally, including a strong contingent from Poland. Their highly successful internship program has successfully cultivated a diverse pool of over 617 talents from 94+ countries since 2021, many of whom transition to full-time roles.

Nethermind

1.3 Ethworks(opens in a new tab) (acquired)

As a prominent blockchain development studio based in Warsaw, Ethworks has been instrumental in building and auditing smart contracts, developing decentralized applications, and contributing to the broader Ethereum infrastructure. In September 2021, Ethworks was acquired by TrustToken, the company behind the TrueFi(opens in a new tab) unsecured lending protocol. Despite the acquisition, the legacy of Ethworks' contributions to open-source projects like Waffle(opens in a new tab) and useDApp(opens in a new tab) continues to benefit Ethereum developers globally.

Marek Kirejczyk(opens in a new tab), Founder of EthWorks joined TrueFi as a CTO and later started Vlayer Labs(opens in a new tab), a decentralized data infrastructure platform designed to enable trustless, verifiable data exchanges using zero-knowledge proofs.

2. Policy

Poland has, indeed, taken steps to establish a favorable environment for fintech companies and blockchain startups. While in terms of cryptocurrency, Poland's approach has been cautious.

For Ordinary Crypto Users and Traders: Crypto is legal but cannot be used for government payments like taxes(opens in a new tab), though private parties can agree to use it for transactions. Income from the sale of virtual currencies is taxed at a flat rate of 19%(opens in a new tab) and report through PIT-38 forms. There are no border declaration requirements when traveling with crypto, and mining is legal with no specific restrictions beyond general electricity and environmental regulations. All crypto transactions are subject to taxation and must be reported to authorities.

For Business Providers and Crypto Startups: Any entity providing virtual currency services must register in the Polish Register of Virtual Currency Activities operated by the tax authority within 14 days. Companies must implement comprehensive AML/KYC policies, appoint qualified AML officers, establish customer due diligence procedures for transactions over €1,000(opens in a new tab). Poland is implementing MiCA regulation, which will bring crypto service providers under direct PFSA supervision by July 2026, requiring additional licensing and compliance measures.

3. Other Key Players

3.1 Startups

As Maciej Zawadziński, a serial entrepreneur with three exits to his credit and partner at Hard2beat VC, explained: "Poland's startup ecosystem has always been about resilience. Founders here have had to be resourceful, overcome capital constraints and think globally from day one…". Here are some well-known Polish Ethereum startups that embody this spirit:

3.2 Communities

3.3 University Initiatives

4. Ethereum Adoption

There is increasing cryptocurrency adoption alongside cautious regulatory oversight. According to the data from statista(opens in a new tab) and Polish Economic Institute, user penetration rate is expected to be 19.32% in 2025 and is forecasted to increase to 20.27% by 2026.

According to Chainalysis' 2024 analysis, Poland ranks 24th globally in crypto adoption and is among the countries with the greatest cryptocurrency value received and DeFi growth in Eastern Europe, alongside Russia and Ukraine, particularly seeing significant growth in large institutional transfers.

Crypto Adoption

DeFi Growth

🦄 Wonder where to find internship opportunities in Ethereum?

We just got a list at Ethereum Job Board(opens in a new tab)

5. Web2 and Web3 Developers

Poland stands out within Europe's developer community, as highlighted by the 2024 Electronic Capital Developer Survey, which notes a 2% share of global blockchain developers(opens in a new tab). Beyond projects with Polish roots, Polish engineers are working at some of the best international projects in the Ethereum space, like Ethereum Foundation, MakerDAO, Matter Labs, Starkware, Consensys and more.

According to the 2022 Octoverse data(opens in a new tab), Poland led with over 981K new developers and a 30% increase. In 2023(opens in a new tab), the Octoverse data shows continued growth, with Poland contributing over 1.2M developers and a 24% year-over-year increase.

Developer Growth

Table: 2022 growth

Developer Growth Table

Table: Developer growth by total developers in 2023, % increase from 2022.

Further Reading

Thanks for reading, and have a nice day! 🌸

Best regards,

Riely and the Geodework team.

❤️❤️❤️

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