Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto’s problems continue to mount.
The company, already under fire following reports of frozen or delayed customer withdrawals, drew the ire of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who told parliament that the company had sponsored some politicians who opposed regulation of the cryptocurrency market.
The blocking of the legislation by some politicians showed they were toeing Zondacrypto’s line, Tusk said ahead of a vote to overturn President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of the law, according to an AP report. The exchange has ties to Russia and had previously provided financial support to lawmakers, he said.
Tusk’s comments came a day after Zondacrypto CEO Przemysław Kral turned to X to defuse allegations that the company was helping itself with investor funds to boost its dwindling reserves.
In a statement and video posted on the platform, Kral said the exchange had sufficient reserves and owns a bitcoin wallet with around 4,500 BTC, around $330 million. However, there is a problem: you cannot access the funds because the previous owner did not hand over the private key and it has now disappeared.
Delayed withdrawals
Kral said he revealed the wallet address to “cut off unfounded accusations of alleged embezzlement.” The key was not handed over by former CEO Sylwester Suszek in 2021, when ownership of the exchange, then known as BitBay, was transferred and Kral assumed control. Suszek has been missing for four years.
Zondacrypto has faced reports of frozen or delayed customer withdrawals since late March, according to local news reports. Kral denied any misuse of client funds and said the exchange remains profitable. He said he made the inaccessible wallet public to show that the exchange has reserves.
Kral framed the situation as part of a broader campaign against the company, according to an AI translation of his Polish video. It pointed to alleged political pressure, regulatory interference and coordinated media coverage that contributed to a rise in withdrawal requests.
An analysis conducted by blockchain intelligence firm Recoveris and cited by local media outlets found that bitcoin balances in hot wallets linked to Zonda have fallen by approximately 99% since mid-2024. At one point, Kral threatened legal action against Polish media outlets covering the situation.
The furor revives the long-running controversy surrounding the company.
Polish investigative reports, led by broadcaster TVN, identified in 2024 shareholder Marek K., who owned a 35% stake, as a criminal sentenced to eight years in prison for complicity in a gangster murder in 1995 and fined 45 million zlotys ($12.5 million) for VAT fraud.
In 2019, the Polish Financial Supervisory Authority (KNF) placed BitBay on its public warning list for unauthorized financial activities.
In January 2025, the Competition and Consumer Protection Bureau, Poland’s consumer protection agency, launched an investigation, still ongoing, into BB Trade Estonia, the owner of Zonda, for “violating the collective interests of consumers,” Fakt reported earlier this month.
“Fundamental error”
In an April 6 post on At that time, Zonda presented itself as a “stable, solvent and secure entity.”
Regarding withdrawal delays, he said that at one point the platform processed tens of thousands of requests in a short period, well above normal levels. That, plus “the implementation of new and advanced security and transaction monitoring systems,” forced manual withdrawal verifications.
The wallet introduced as proof of reserves following customer demand has seen little activity recently. The on-chain data shows no outgoing movements and a total of 32 receiving transactions.
Regarding the veto vote, 191 deputies voted in favor of Nawrocki’s veto and 243 against, 20 mandates too few to revoke the blockade, TVP World reported.
