The troubles facing Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto continue to escalate. Following reports of frozen or delayed customer withdrawals, the company has drawn criticism from Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who alleged in parliament that Zondacrypto had sponsored politicians opposed to crypto market regulation. Tusk claimed 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, according to Tusk.
His comments came a day after Zondacrypto's CEO, Przemysław Kral, took to social media to address allegations that the company was using investors' funds to boost its dwindling reserves. Kral stated that the exchange has sufficient reserves and owns a bitcoin wallet containing approximately 4,500 BTC, valued at around $330 million. However, the company is unable to access these funds because the previous owner, former CEO Sylwester Suszek, did not hand over the private key before disappearing in 2021. Kral revealed the wallet address in an effort to counter accusations of misappropriating funds.
The key was not transferred when ownership of the exchange changed hands, and Suszek has been missing for four years. Zondacrypto has faced issues with frozen or delayed customer withdrawals since late March, according to local news reports.
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 has reserves. Kral framed the situation as part of a broader campaign against the company, citing supposed 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 outlets, found that bitcoin balances in hot wallets linked to Zonda have decreased by about 99% since mid-2024.
The controversy surrounding Zondacrypto has been ongoing for some time. In 2024, Polish investigative reporting 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 exchange's previous name, on its public warning list for unauthorized financial activities. In January 2025, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection launched an investigation into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda's owner, for violating consumer interests. Kral attributed reports of declining reserves to a 'fundamental analytical error' by focusing solely on hot wallets. At the time, he claimed Zonda was a 'stable, solvent, and secure entity.' Regarding withdrawal delays, he stated that the platform processed an unusually high number of requests in a short period, forcing manual verifications due to new security and transaction monitoring systems.
The wallet presented as proof of reserves has seen minimal recent activity, with no outgoing transactions and 32 receiving transactions. The veto vote resulted in 191 MPs voting in favor and 243 against, 20 mandates short of overturning the block.