The troubles facing 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 in parliament that Zondacrypto sponsored politicians opposed to crypto market regulation. Tusk claimed that these politicians were acting in the exchange's interests by blocking the legislation, citing the company's ties to Russia and previous financial support for lawmakers.
His comments came after Zondacrypto's CEO, Przemysław Kral, attempted to address allegations that the company was misusing investor funds to replenish 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, he revealed that the company cannot access the funds due to the absence of the private key, which was not transferred by the previous CEO, Sylwester Suszek, in 2021. Suszek has been missing for four years.
Zondacrypto has been dealing with reports of delayed customer withdrawals since late March, according to local news outlets. Kral denied any misuse of client funds, asserting that the exchange remains profitable. He made the inaccessible wallet public to demonstrate the exchange's reserves.
Kral framed the situation as part of a broader campaign against the company, mentioning 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 tied to Zonda have dropped by about 99% since mid-2024. The controversy surrounding Zondacrypto is long-standing, with Polish investigative reporting in 2024 identifying a shareholder with a criminal record.
In 2019, Poland's Financial Supervision Authority placed BitBay, the exchange's previous name, on its public warning list for unauthorized financial activities. An investigation into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda's owner, for violating consumer interests is ongoing. Kral attributed reports of declining reserves to a 'fundamental analytical error' and stated that the platform's withdrawal delays were due to an unusually high volume of requests and the implementation of new security systems.