Poland's Zondacrypto cryptocurrency exchange is facing mounting challenges. In addition to reports of frozen or delayed customer withdrawals, the company has drawn criticism from Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who accused it of sponsoring politicians opposed to crypto market regulation. Tusk made these comments before a parliamentary vote to overturn President Karol Nawrocki's veto of the law.
He claimed that the exchange, which has ties to Russia, had previously provided financial support to these lawmakers. The prime minister's statement came a day after Zondacrypto's CEO, Przemysław Kral, attempted to address allegations that the company was using investors' funds to supplement its dwindling 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, he noted that the company cannot access these funds due to a missing private key, which was not handed over by the previous CEO, Sylwester Suszek, in 2021.
Suszek has been missing for four years. Kral denied any misuse of client funds and asserted that the exchange remains profitable. He revealed the inaccessible wallet to demonstrate that the exchange has reserves and to counter unfounded accusations of misappropriation of funds.
Kral attributed the situation to a broader campaign against the company, citing political pressure, regulatory interference, and coordinated media coverage that contributed 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 has been ongoing, with Polish investigative reporting in 2024 identifying a shareholder with a criminal record. In 2019, Poland's Financial Supervision Authority placed BitBay, the exchange's former name, on its public warning list for unauthorized financial activities.
An investigation into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda's owner, was launched in January 2025 for violating consumer interests. Kral has stated that reports of declining reserves stem from an analytical error and that the platform is stable, solvent, and secure.
He attributed withdrawal delays to an unusually high volume of requests and the implementation of new security systems. The presented wallet has seen minimal recent activity, with no outgoing transactions and 32 receiving transactions.
The veto vote ultimately failed to overturn the block, with 191 MPs voting in favor and 243 against, 20 mandates short of the required number.