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

The troubles for Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto continue to escalate. Following reports of frozen or delayed customer withdrawals, the company has drawn criticism from Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who alleged that Zondacrypto sponsored politicians to oppose crypto market regulation. Tusk made these comments before a parliamentary vote to overturn President Karol Nawrocki's veto of the law. He noted that the exchange has ties to Russia and had previously provided financial support to lawmakers. The Prime Minister's comments came after Zondacrypto's CEO, Przemysław Kral, attempted to address allegations 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. Kral revealed the wallet address to counter accusations of misappropriating funds, which he claims are unfounded. The key was not handed over when ownership of the exchange changed in 2021, and Suszek has been missing for four years. Zondacrypto has been dealing with reports of frozen or delayed customer withdrawals since late March, according to local news sources. Kral denied any misuse of client funds and asserted that the exchange remains profitable. He made the inaccessible wallet public to demonstrate that the exchange has reserves. Kral framed the situation as 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 decreased by about 99% since mid-2024. The controversy surrounding Zondacrypto is long-standing. In 2024, Polish investigative reporting identified shareholder Marek K., who held a 35% stake, as a criminal sentenced to eight years in prison for complicity in a 1995 gangland murder and fined 45 million zlotys ($12.5 million) for VAT fraud. In 2019, Poland's Financial Supervision Authority placed BitBay on its public warning list for unauthorized financial activities. In January 2025, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection started an investigation into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda's owner, for violating consumer interests. Kral attributed reports of declining reserves to a 'fundamental analytical error' by focusing solely on hot wallets. He stated that Zonda is a 'stable, solvent, and secure entity.' Regarding withdrawal delays, Kral explained that the platform processed an unusually high number of requests in a short period, prompting manual verifications due to new security and transaction monitoring systems. The wallet presented as proof of reserves has seen little recent activity, with no outgoing movements and 32 receiving transactions. The veto vote resulted in 191 MPs voting in favor of Nawrocki's veto and 243 against it, 20 mandates short of overturning the block.