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 acting in the interests of Zondacrypto, which has links to Russia and had provided them with financial support. This statement came before a parliamentary vote to overturn President Karol Nawrocki's veto of the law.
The exchange's CEO, Przemysław Kral, had previously attempted to address allegations of the company using investors' funds to boost its declining 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 due to a missing private key, which was not handed over by the former CEO, Sylwester Suszek, when he left the company in 2021. Suszek has been missing for four years.
Zondacrypto has been dealing with reports of frozen or delayed customer withdrawals since late March, prompting Kral to deny any misuse of client funds and assert that the exchange remains profitable. The situation has been framed by Kral as part of a broader campaign against the company, citing political pressure, regulatory interference, and coordinated media coverage that has led 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-running, with the company having faced issues in the past, including being placed on Poland's Financial Supervision Authority's public warning list for unauthorized financial activities in 2019. In 2024, an investigation by Polish broadcaster TVN identified a shareholder with a criminal record, and in 2025, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection started an investigation into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda's owner, for violating consumer interests.
Kral has attributed reports of declining reserves to a 'fundamental analytical error' and stated that the platform's withdrawal delays were caused by an unusually high volume of requests and the implementation of new security systems.