The troubles facing Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto continue to escalate. Following allegations of frozen or delayed customer withdrawals, the company has drawn the ire of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who claimed in parliament that Zondacrypto had provided financial support to politicians opposing crypto market regulation. Tusk suggested that these politicians were acting in the exchange's interests by blocking legislation. The exchange has ties to Russia and had previously sponsored lawmakers.
The prime minister's comments came a day 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 disclosed the existence of a bitcoin wallet containing approximately 4,500 BTC, valued at around $330 million. However, the company is unable to access these funds as the private key was not handed over by the previous owner, former CEO Sylwester Suszek, who has been missing since 2021.
Kral denied any misuse of client funds, stating that the exchange remains profitable. The situation has sparked a surge in withdrawal requests, which Kral attributes to a broader campaign against the company, including political pressure, regulatory interference, and coordinated media coverage. An analysis by blockchain intelligence firm Recoveris found that bitcoin balances in hot wallets linked to Zonda have decreased by about 99% since mid-2024.
The controversy surrounding Zondacrypto is long-standing, with the company having been placed on Poland's Financial Supervision Authority's public warning list in 2019 for unauthorized financial activities. An investigation into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda's owner, was launched in January 2025 for violating consumer interests. Kral has dismissed reports of declining reserves as a 'fundamental analytical error' and attributed withdrawal delays to the implementation of new security and transaction monitoring systems.
The wallet presented as proof of reserves has shown little recent activity, with no outgoing transactions and only 32 receiving transactions. The veto vote on crypto market regulation ultimately failed to overturn President Karol Nawrocki's veto, with 191 MPs voting in favor and 243 against, 20 mandates short of the required number.