The troubles facing Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto continue to escalate. Following reports of frozen or delayed customer withdrawals, the company has now drawn criticism from Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who accused it of sponsoring politicians opposed to crypto market regulation. Tusk's comments came before a parliamentary vote to overturn President Karol Nawrocki's veto of the law, according to an AP report.
The exchange, which has ties to Russia, had previously provided financial support to lawmakers. In response to allegations of misappropriating investors' funds, Zondacrypto CEO Przemysław Kral revealed that the company owns a bitcoin wallet holding approximately 4,500 BTC, valued at around $330 million. However, the funds are inaccessible due to a missing private key, which was not handed over by the previous CEO, Sylwester Suszek, in 2021.
Suszek has been missing for four years. Kral denied any misuse of client funds and stated that the exchange remains profitable, attributing the situation 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 tied to Zonda have dropped by about 99% since mid-2024. The controversy surrounding Zondacrypto has been ongoing, with Polish investigative reporting in 2024 identifying a shareholder with a criminal record.
In 2019, Poland's Financial Supervision Authority placed BitBay, the company's former name, on its public warning list for unauthorized financial activities. An investigation by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, started in January 2025, is still in progress. Kral has attributed reports of declining reserves to a 'fundamental analytical error' and stated that the platform is stable, solvent, and secure.
The presented wallet has seen little recent activity, with no outgoing movements and only 32 receiving transactions. The parliamentary vote to overturn the veto ultimately failed, with 191 MPs voting in favor and 243 against, 20 mandates short of the required number.