The troubles for Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto continue to escalate. Following reports of customer withdrawals being frozen or delayed, the company has drawn the ire of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who alleged that Zondacrypto sponsored politicians to block crypto market regulation.
Tusk's comments came before a parliamentary vote to overturn President Karol Nawrocki's veto of the law. The exchange, which has ties to Russia, had previously provided financial support to lawmakers. In an attempt to dispel allegations that the company was using investors' funds to supplement its dwindling reserves, Zondacrypto's CEO Przemysław Kral revealed the existence of a bitcoin wallet containing approximately 4,500 BTC, valued at around $330 million. However, the company is unable to access the 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. Kral denied any misuse of client funds, stating that the exchange remains profitable and that the revelation of the inaccessible wallet was intended to prove the company's reserves. 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, which 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 decreased by about 99% since mid-2024.
The controversy surrounding Zondacrypto is long-standing, with the company having faced investigations and warnings from Polish authorities in the past. In 2019, Poland's Financial Supervision Authority placed BitBay, Zondacrypto's predecessor, on its public warning list for unauthorized financial activities.
More recently, 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 has stated that the platform's withdrawal delays were due to an unusually high volume of requests and the implementation of new security measures.