Zondacrypto under fire as Poland’s prime minister links exchange to legislative interference
The company also disclosed a 4,500 BTC wallet that it can’t access due to missing private keys linked to a former CEO, who’s now missing.
What to know:
- Polish crypto exchange Zondacrypto is under pressure over frozen and delayed withdrawals and alleged political influence campaigns.
- Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the company of financially backing lawmakers who opposed crypto regulation.
- CEO Przemysław Kral insists the exchange is solvent, even as he admits Zondacrypto cannot access a 4,500 BTC wallet, and local media reports say blockchain data show its hot wallets have been largely drained.
Blocking the legislation by some politicians showed they were toeing Zondacrypto’s line, Tusk said before a vote to overturn President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of the law, according to a report by AP. The exchange has links to Russia and had previously provided the lawmakers with financial support, he said.
Tusk’s comments came a day after Zondacrypto CEO Przemysław Kral turned to X to defuse allegations the company was helping itself to investors’ funds to bulk up its declining reserves.
In a statement and video published on the platform, Kral said the exchange had sufficient reserves, and owns a bitcoin wallet holding about 4,500 BTC, about $330 million. There is a problem, though: It can’t access the funds because the previous owner didn’t hand over the private key and has now disappeared.
Delayed withdrawals
Kral said he revealed the wallet address 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 ownership of the exchange, then known as BitBay, transferred and Kral took over. Suszek has been missing for four years.
