Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto’s issues simply maintain mounting.
Already under fire following studies of frozen or delayed buyer withdrawals, the corporate on Friday drew the ire of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who informed parliament the corporate had sponsored some politicians who opposed crypto market regulation.
Blocking the laws by some politicians confirmed they had been toeing Zondacrypto’s line, Tusk mentioned earlier than a vote to overturn President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of the regulation, in accordance to a report by AP. The exchange has links to Russia and had beforehand offered the lawmakers with monetary help, he mentioned.
Tusk’s feedback got here a day after Zondacrypto CEO Przemysław Kral turned to X to defuse allegations the corporate was serving to itself to traders’ funds to bulk up its declining reserves.
In a press release and video published on the platform, Kral mentioned the exchange had adequate reserves, and owns a bitcoin pockets holding about 4,500 BTC, about $330 million. There is an issue, although: It cannot entry the funds as a result of the earlier proprietor did not hand over the non-public key and has now disappeared.
Delayed withdrawals
Kral mentioned he revealed the pockets deal with to “cut short the unfounded accusations of alleged misappropriation of funds.” The key was not handed over by former CEO Sylwester Suszek in 2021, when possession of the exchange, then known as BitBay, transferred and Kral took over. Suszek has been lacking for 4 years.
Zondacrypto has confronted studies of frozen or delayed buyer withdrawals since late March, in accordance to native information studies. Kral denied any misuse of consumer funds and mentioned the exchange stays worthwhile. He publicized the inaccessible pockets to show the exchange has reserves, he mentioned.
Kral framed the state of affairs as a part of a broader marketing campaign in opposition to the corporate, in accordance to an AI translation of his Polish video. He pointed to supposed political strain, regulatory interference and coordinated media coverage that contributed to a surge in withdrawal requests.
Analysis performed by blockchain intelligence agency Recoveris and cited by local news outlets discovered that bitcoin balances in sizzling wallets tied to Zonda have dropped by about 99% since mid-2024. At one level, Kral threatened authorized motion in opposition to Polish information shops overlaying the state of affairs.
The furor revives the long-running controversy surrounding the corporate.
Polish investigative reporting, led by broadcaster TVN, in 2024 recognized shareholder Marek Ok., who held a 35% stake, as a prison sentenced to eight years in jail for complicity in a 1995 gangland homicide and fined 45 million zlotys ($12.5 million) for VAT fraud.
In 2019, Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) placed BitBay on its public warning record for unauthorized monetary actions.
In January 2025, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, Poland’s client safety company, began an investigation — nonetheless in progress — into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda’s proprietor, for “violating the collective interests of consumers,” Fakt reported earlier this month.
“Fundamental error”
In an April 6 post on X, Kral mentioned studies of the reported decline in reserves stemmed from a “fundamental analytical error” by focusing solely on sizzling wallets. At the time, Zonda stood as a “stable, solvent, and secure entity.”
As for withdrawal delays, he mentioned that at one level the platform processed tens of 1000’s of requests in a brief interval, far above regular ranges. That, plus “the implementation of new, advanced security and transaction monitoring systems,” compelled handbook withdrawal verifications.
The pockets offered as proof of reserves following buyer demand has seen little current exercise. Onchain data reveals no outgoing actions in any respect, and a complete of 32 receiving transactions.
As for the veto vote, 191 MPs voted in favor of Nawrocki’s veto and 243 in opposition to it, 20 mandates too few to overturn the block, TVP World reported.
