The troubles facing Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto continue to escalate. Following reports of frozen or delayed customer withdrawals, the company has come under fire from Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who claims that Zondacrypto sponsored politicians who opposed crypto market regulation. Tusk stated that these politicians were acting in the exchange's interests by blocking the legislation. The exchange has ties to Russia and had previously provided financial support to lawmakers.
Tusk's comments came after Zondacrypto's CEO, Przemysław Kral, attempted to address allegations that the company was using investors' funds to supplement its dwindling reserves. Kral revealed that the exchange owns 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 handed over by the former CEO, Sylwester Suszek, in 2021, and Suszek has been missing for four years. Zondacrypto has faced issues with delayed customer withdrawals since late March, prompting Kral to deny any misuse of client funds and assert that the exchange remains profitable.
The situation has sparked a wider campaign against the company, with Kral citing political pressure, regulatory interference, and coordinated media coverage as contributing factors to the surge in withdrawal requests. An analysis by blockchain intelligence firm Recoveris found that bitcoin balances in hot wallets tied to Zonda have dropped by about 99% since mid-2024. The controversy surrounding Zondacrypto is long-running, with the company having been placed on Poland's Financial Supervision Authority's public warning list in 2019 for unauthorized financial activities.
In 2024, an investigation by Polish broadcaster TVN identified a shareholder with a criminal record, and in 2025, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection launched an investigation into Zonda's owner, BB Trade Estonia, for violating consumer interests. Kral has attributed reports of declining reserves to a 'fundamental analytical error' and has stated that the platform is stable, solvent, and secure.
The wallet presented as proof of reserves has seen little recent activity, with no outgoing movements and only 32 receiving transactions. The veto vote on the crypto market regulation law saw 191 MPs vote in favor of the veto and 243 against it, falling short of the required number to overturn the block.