Poland’s embattled crypto exchange Zondacrypto is again at the center of a political and financial storm after Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the company of funding politicians who blocked tighter crypto rules — allegations that underline growing concerns about the platform’s transparency and solvency.
Tusk told parliament that some lawmakers opposing new crypto-market regulations had been sponsored by Zondacrypto, suggesting those votes effectively advanced the exchange’s interests. His remarks came ahead of a parliamentary vote on whether to overturn President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of the measure; the veto was sustained when 191 MPs voted in favor of it and 243 voted against — 20 short of the number needed to overturn the block, according to TVP World. The Associated Press reported Tusk also noted the exchange’s alleged links to Russia and prior financial support for lawmakers.
The accusations arrive amid customer complaints that Zondacrypto has frozen or delayed withdrawals since late March. CEO Przemysław Kral has repeatedly denied any misappropriation of client funds and says the business remains profitable. In an effort to rebut claims about depleted reserves, Kral posted a statement and video on X revealing the exchange controls a bitcoin wallet holding roughly 4,500 BTC — about $330 million — but says it is inaccessible because the private key was never handed over by former CEO Sylwester Suszek when ownership changed in 2021. Suszek disappeared four years ago, Kral said.
Blockchain-analysis firm Recoveris and local outlets have reported that BTC balances in Zonda-linked hot wallets have plunged by roughly 99% since mid-2024, a statistic that has fueled customer panic and withdrawal requests. On-chain data for the wallet Kral pointed to as proof of reserves shows no outgoing transactions and just 32 receiving transfers, raising further questions about liquidity and access.
Kral blames a coordinated campaign against the exchange — alleging political pressure, regulatory interference and negative media coverage — for the surge in withdrawals and said some analytics focused only on hot wallets, creating a “fundamental analytical error.” He also said new security and transaction-monitoring systems forced manual processing of unusually high volumes of withdrawal requests. At times he has threatened legal action against Polish news outlets covering the controversy.
Zondacrypto’s troubles are not new. The company, previously known as BitBay, was placed on Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) public warning list in 2019 for unauthorized financial activity. Investigative reporting in 2024 by TVN named a 35% shareholder, Marek K., as a convicted criminal sentenced to eight years for complicity in a 1995 gangland murder and fined 45 million zlotys ($12.5 million) for VAT fraud. In January 2025 Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection opened an ongoing probe into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda’s owner, for alleged violations of collective consumer interests, Fakt reported.
With regulators, lawmakers and forensic blockchain firms now scrutinizing its operations, Zondacrypto faces a convergence of legal, political and on-chain challenges that could shape Poland’s approach to crypto regulation — even as questions remain about who truly controls the exchange’s largest claimed reserve.
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