Poland's Prime Minister Accuses Zondacrypto of Influencing Legislation Amidst Exchange's Ongoing Struggles

The troubles facing Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto continue to escalate. Following reports of frozen or delayed customer withdrawals, the company has now drawn the ire of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who accused Zondacrypto of sponsoring politicians to block crypto market regulation. Tusk made these comments before a parliamentary vote on overturning President Karol Nawrocki's veto of the law. The exchange has ties to Russia and had previously provided financial support to lawmakers, according to Tusk. This development came a day after Zondacrypto's CEO, Przemysław Kral, attempted to address allegations that the company was using investors' funds to boost its dwindling reserves. Kral stated that the exchange has sufficient reserves and owns a bitcoin wallet containing approximately 4,500 BTC, valued at around $330 million. However, the company is unable to access these funds because the previous owner, former CEO Sylwester Suszek, did not hand over the private key before disappearing. Kral revealed the wallet address to counter accusations of misappropriating funds, stating that the key was not transferred when ownership changed hands in 2021. Suszek has been missing for four years. Zondacrypto has been dealing with reports of frozen or delayed customer withdrawals since late March, prompting Kral to deny any misuse of client funds and assert that the exchange remains profitable. He claimed that the situation is part of a broader campaign against the company, citing political pressure, regulatory interference, and coordinated media coverage that led to a surge in withdrawal requests. An analysis by blockchain intelligence firm Recoveris found that bitcoin balances in hot wallets tied to Zonda have dropped by about 99% since mid-2024. The controversy surrounding Zondacrypto is long-standing, with Polish investigative reporting in 2024 identifying a shareholder with a criminal record. In 2019, Poland's Financial Supervision Authority placed BitBay, Zondacrypto's predecessor, on its public warning list for unauthorized financial activities. An investigation into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda's owner, for violating consumer interests is ongoing. Kral attributed reports of declining reserves to a 'fundamental analytical error' and stated that the platform's withdrawal delays were due to an unusually high volume of requests and the implementation of new security systems. Onchain data shows that the presented wallet has seen minimal recent activity, with no outgoing transactions and only 32 receiving transactions. The veto vote ultimately did not overturn the block, with 191 MPs voting in favor and 243 against, 20 mandates short of the required number.