The troubles facing Zondacrypto, a Polish cryptocurrency exchange, continue to escalate. Following reports of customer withdrawals being frozen or delayed, the company has come under fire from Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who alleged that Zondacrypto had ties to certain politicians who opposed crypto market regulation.
Tusk claimed that these politicians were essentially doing the bidding of the exchange, which has connections to Russia and had previously provided them with financial backing. This statement was made ahead of a parliamentary vote to potentially override President Karol Nawrocki's veto of a law related to crypto regulation. The exchange's CEO, Przemysław Kral, attempted to alleviate concerns about the company's financial health by revealing the existence of a bitcoin wallet containing approximately 4,500 BTC, valued at around $330 million. However, Kral noted that the company cannot access these funds due to the absence of the private key, which was not handed over by the former CEO, Sylwester Suszek, when he left the company in 2021.
Suszek has been missing for four years. Kral's revelation was an effort to counter accusations that the exchange was misusing investor funds to bolster its dwindling reserves.
The company has been dealing with issues related to delayed customer withdrawals since late March, prompting Kral to deny any wrongdoing and assert that the exchange remains profitable. He attributed the situation to 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 found that the bitcoin balances in hot wallets associated with Zonda have plummeted by about 99% since mid-2024.
The controversy surrounding Zondacrypto is long-standing, with past issues including the identification of a shareholder with a criminal record and the company's placement on a public warning list by Poland's Financial Supervision Authority for unauthorized financial activities. An ongoing investigation by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda's owner, for violating consumer interests, further complicates the situation. Kral has characterized reports of declining reserves as stemming from a 'fundamental analytical error' focused solely on hot wallets, and attributed withdrawal delays to an unusually high volume of requests and the implementation of new security measures.
The wallet presented as evidence of the company's solvency has shown minimal recent activity, with no outgoing transactions and only 32 incoming transactions. The vote to override the presidential veto ultimately failed, with 191 MPs supporting the veto and 243 opposing it, falling short of the necessary majority.