The troubles facing Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto have escalated further. Following reports of customers experiencing frozen or delayed withdrawals, the company has come under fire from Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who alleged in parliament that Zondacrypto had provided financial support to politicians opposed to crypto market regulation. According to Tusk, these politicians were essentially doing the exchange's bidding by blocking the legislation. The exchange has ties to Russia and had previously sponsored these lawmakers.
Tusk's comments came after Zondacrypto's CEO, Przemysław Kral, attempted to address allegations that the company was using investors' funds to replenish its dwindling reserves. In a statement and video published on X, 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 hand over the private key before disappearing in 2021. Kral claimed he revealed the wallet address to dispel accusations of misusing client funds. The exchange has been dealing with reports of delayed customer withdrawals since late March, which Kral denies are due to any misuse of client funds, instead attributing them to a surge in withdrawal requests prompted by supposed 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 dropped by about 99% since mid-2024.
The controversy surrounding Zondacrypto is long-standing, with past issues including the identification of a shareholder with a criminal record and the company being placed on Poland's public warning list for unauthorized financial activities. In January 2025, an investigation was launched into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda's owner, for violating consumer interests, which is still ongoing.
Kral has described reports of declining reserves as resulting from a 'fundamental analytical error' and attributed withdrawal delays to an unusually high volume of requests and the implementation of new security measures.