The troubles facing Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto continue to escalate. Following reports of customer withdrawals being frozen or delayed, the company has drawn criticism from Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who alleged that Zondacrypto sponsored politicians to block crypto market regulation. Tusk claimed that these politicians were acting in the exchange's interests, citing its links to Russia and previous financial support for lawmakers.
This accusation came a day after Zondacrypto's CEO, Przemysław Kral, attempted to address allegations that the company was using investors' 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 these funds because the previous owner, former CEO Sylwester Suszek, did not provide the private key and has been missing since 2021. Kral attributed the company's issues to a broader campaign against it, including political pressure, regulatory interference, and coordinated media coverage, which led to a surge in withdrawal requests.
An analysis by blockchain intelligence firm Recoveris found that bitcoin balances in Zondacrypto's hot wallets have decreased by about 99% since mid-2024. The controversy surrounding Zondacrypto has been ongoing, with past issues including links to criminal activity and unauthorized financial operations. In 2024, an investigation identified a shareholder with a criminal record, and in 2019, Poland's Financial Supervision Authority placed the company on its public warning list. More recently, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection initiated an investigation into Zonda's owner, BB Trade Estonia, for violating consumer interests.
Kral has maintained that the exchange remains profitable and that reports of declining reserves are due to a 'fundamental analytical error' focusing solely on hot wallets. He also attributed withdrawal delays to an unusually high volume of requests and the implementation of new security measures. The wallet presented as proof of reserves has shown minimal recent activity, with no outgoing transactions and only 32 receiving transactions. The veto vote on crypto market regulation ultimately failed to overturn the block, with 191 MPs voting in favor and 243 against, 20 mandates short of the required number.