The troubles facing Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto continue to escalate. Following reports of customers experiencing frozen or delayed withdrawals, the company has now drawn the ire of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who accused Zondacrypto of sponsoring politicians who opposed crypto market regulation. Tusk claimed that these politicians were essentially doing the bidding of the exchange, which has ties to Russia and had previously provided them with financial support.
This statement came before a parliamentary vote to overturn President Karol Nawrocki's veto of a law related to crypto market regulation. The vote ultimately failed to overturn the veto, with 191 MPs voting in favor and 243 against, falling short of the required number to block the veto. Zondacrypto's CEO, Przemysław Kral, attempted to address allegations that the company was misusing investor funds by revealing the existence of a bitcoin wallet containing approximately 4,500 BTC, valued at around $330 million.
However, he admitted that the company cannot access these funds because the previous owner, former CEO Sylwester Suszek, did not hand over the private key when he left the company in 2021, and has since gone missing. Kral denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the exchange remains profitable, attributing the delayed withdrawals to an unusually high volume of requests and the implementation of new security measures.
The situation has sparked a broader controversy surrounding Zondacrypto, including a long history of regulatory issues and concerns over the company's ownership and practices. An analysis by blockchain intelligence firm Recoveris found that the bitcoin balances in Zondacrypto's hot wallets have dropped by about 99% since mid-2024, further fueling concerns about the company's solvency. The company has faced numerous investigations and warnings from regulatory bodies, including Poland's Financial Supervision Authority, which placed Zondacrypto's predecessor, BitBay, on its public warning list in 2019.
The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection has also been investigating Zondacrypto's owner, BB Trade Estonia, for allegedly violating consumer interests.