The troubles for 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 suggested in parliament that Zondacrypto had financially supported politicians who opposed crypto market regulation, thereby blocking legislation. Tusk noted that this indicated the politicians were aligned with the exchange's interests. The comments were made before a parliamentary vote aimed at overturning President Karol Nawrocki's veto of the law, as reported by AP.
Tusk also highlighted the exchange's connections to Russia and its previous financial support for lawmakers. The prime minister's remarks came a day after Zondacrypto's CEO, Przemysław Kral, attempted to address allegations that the company was using investors' funds to bolster its dwindling reserves.
In a statement and video posted on X, Kral stated that the exchange had 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 private key was not handed over by the previous CEO, Sylwester Suszek, in 2021 when the ownership of the exchange changed, and Suszek has since been missing for four years. Kral shared the wallet address to counter what he described as unfounded accusations of misappropriating funds.
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 and asserted that the exchange remains profitable. He made the inaccessible wallet public to demonstrate that the exchange holds reserves.
Kral framed the situation as part of a broader campaign against the company, citing political pressure, regulatory interference, and coordinated media coverage that led to a surge in withdrawal requests. An analysis by blockchain intelligence firm Recoveris, cited by local news, found that bitcoin balances in hot wallets associated with Zonda have decreased by about 99% since mid-2024. At one point, Kral threatened to take legal action against Polish news outlets covering the situation. The controversy surrounding Zondacrypto is long-standing.
In 2024, Polish investigative reporting by TVN identified a shareholder, Marek K., who held a 35% stake, as a criminal sentenced to eight years in prison for complicity in a 1995 gangland murder and fined for VAT fraud. In 2019, Poland's Financial Supervision Authority placed BitBay, the predecessor to Zondacrypto, on its public warning list for unauthorized financial activities. In January 2025, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection initiated an investigation, still ongoing, into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda's owner, for violating consumer interests, as reported by Fakt. Kral described reports of declining reserves as stemming from a 'fundamental analytical error' by focusing solely on hot wallets, and at the time, Zonda was a 'stable, solvent, and secure entity.' Regarding withdrawal delays, he explained that the platform had to process an unusually high number of requests in a short period, which, combined with the implementation of new security and transaction monitoring systems, necessitated manual verification of withdrawals.
The wallet presented as proof of reserves has seen minimal recent activity, with no outgoing transactions and a total of 32 receiving transactions. The vote to overturn the presidential veto ultimately failed, with 191 MPs voting in favor and 243 against, 20 mandates short of what was needed to overturn the block, as reported by TVP World.