Poland's Prime Minister Accuses Zondacrypto of Influencing Legislation Amidst Withdrawal Delays

The troubles facing Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto continue to escalate. Following reports of customer withdrawals being frozen or delayed, the company has drawn criticism from Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who claims that Zondacrypto sponsored politicians who opposed crypto market regulation. Tusk made these comments before a parliamentary vote to overturn President Karol Nawrocki's veto of the law. The exchange has ties to Russia and had previously provided financial support to lawmakers. Tusk's comments came a day after Zondacrypto's CEO, Przemysław Kral, attempted to alleviate concerns that the company was using investors' funds to supplement 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 provide the private key before disappearing in 2021. Kral revealed the wallet address to address allegations of misappropriation of funds. Zondacrypto has faced issues with delayed customer withdrawals since late March, according to local news reports. Kral denied any misuse of client funds and claimed that the exchange remains profitable. The situation has been framed as part of a broader campaign against the company, with Kral citing supposed political pressure, regulatory interference, and coordinated media coverage contributing 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-running, with Polish investigative reporting in 2024 identifying a shareholder with a criminal past. In 2019, Poland's Financial Supervision Authority placed BitBay on its public warning list for unauthorized financial activities. An investigation into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda's owner, was launched in January 2025 for violating consumer interests. Kral has attributed reports of declining reserves to a 'fundamental analytical error' and stated that the platform is stable, solvent, and secure. Withdrawal delays were attributed to an unusually high volume of requests and the implementation of new security systems. The wallet presented as proof of reserves has seen little recent activity, with no outgoing transactions and only 32 receiving transactions. The veto vote ultimately failed to overturn the block, with 191 MPs voting in favor and 243 against, 20 mandates short of the required number.