The troubles facing Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto continue to escalate. Following reports of customers experiencing frozen or delayed withdrawals, the company has drawn criticism from Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who alleged that Zondacrypto had provided financial backing to politicians opposing crypto market regulation. Tusk made these remarks before a parliamentary vote on overturning President Karol Nawrocki's veto of the legislation, citing the exchange's ties to Russia and its previous support for lawmakers. The prime minister suggested that certain politicians were acting in the interests of Zondacrypto.
This development comes after Zondacrypto's CEO, Przemysław Kral, attempted to address allegations that the company was utilizing investors' funds to replenish its dwindling reserves. Kral disclosed that the exchange possesses a bitcoin wallet containing approximately 4,500 BTC, valued at around $330 million, but is unable to access the funds due to a missing private key. The key was not transferred by the former CEO, Sylwester Suszek, when ownership of the exchange changed hands in 2021, and Suszek has been missing for four years. Kral denied any misuse of client funds, stating that the exchange remains profitable, and attributed the situation to a broader campaign against the company, including political pressure, regulatory interference, and coordinated media coverage.
This has led to a surge in withdrawal requests. An analysis by Recoveris, a blockchain intelligence firm, found that the bitcoin balances in hot wallets associated with Zonda have decreased by about 99% since mid-2024.
The controversy surrounding Zondacrypto is long-standing, with the company facing investigations and warnings from regulatory authorities in the past. In 2019, Poland's Financial Supervision Authority placed BitBay, the exchange's former name, on its public warning list for unauthorized financial activities.
More recently, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection initiated an investigation into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda's owner, for allegedly violating consumer interests. Kral has attributed reports of declining reserves to an 'fundamental analytical error' and stated that the platform is 'stable, solvent, and secure.' The company has been experiencing withdrawal delays due 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 parliamentary vote on the veto resulted in 191 MPs voting in favor and 243 against, falling short of the required number to overturn the block.