The troubles facing Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto have intensified, with Prime Minister Donald Tusk alleging that the company has ties to politicians who opposed crypto market regulation. Tusk claimed that these politicians were essentially following Zondacrypto's agenda when they blocked legislation. The exchange has connections to Russia and had previously provided financial support to these lawmakers.
Tusk's comments came before a vote to overturn President Karol Nawrocki's veto of the law, as reported by AP. The situation unfolded 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 because the previous owner, former CEO Sylwester Suszek, did not provide the private key before disappearing.
Suszek has been missing since 2021, when the ownership of the exchange changed and Kral took over. The exchange has been dealing with reports of frozen or delayed customer withdrawals since late March, according to local news reports.
Kral denied any misuse of client funds and emphasized that the exchange remains profitable. He revealed the inaccessible wallet to demonstrate that the exchange has reserves. Kral framed the situation as part of a broader campaign against the company, citing supposed political pressure, regulatory interference, and coordinated media coverage that contributed to a surge in withdrawal requests.
An analysis by blockchain intelligence firm Recoveris found that bitcoin balances in hot wallets associated with Zonda have decreased by about 99% since mid-2024. The controversy surrounding Zondacrypto is long-standing. In 2024, Polish investigative reporting identified a shareholder, Marek K., who held a 35% stake, as a criminal sentenced to eight years in prison for complicity in a gangland murder and fined for VAT fraud.
In 2019, Poland's Financial Supervision Authority placed BitBay, the predecessor to Zondacrypto, 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 has described reports of declining reserves as stemming from a 'fundamental analytical error' by focusing solely on hot wallets. He attributed withdrawal delays to an unusually high volume of requests and the implementation of new security systems, which necessitated manual verifications.
The wallet presented as proof of reserves has seen minimal recent activity, with no outgoing transactions and only 32 receiving transactions. The vote to overturn the presidential veto ultimately failed, with 191 MPs voting in favor and 243 against, falling short of the required number to overturn the block.