Donald Tusk Accuses Zondacrypto Of Financing Polish Lawmakers Ahead Of Karol Nawrocki Veto Vote

Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk accused the crypto exchange Zondacrypto of financially backing lawmakers who opposed crypto regulation, linking the company to legislative interference as parliament prepared to vote on whether to overturn President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of the law.

“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”

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CoinDesk reports that Tusk told parliament the company had sponsored some politicians who opposed crypto market regulation, and that blocking the legislation by some politicians showed they were “toeing Zondacrypto's line.”

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CoinDesk also says Tusk’s comments came before a vote to overturn Nawrocki’s veto, with TVP World reporting that “191 MPs voted in favor of Nawrocki’s veto and 243 against it, 20 mandates too few to overturn the block.”

In the same reporting thread, CoinDesk states that Zondacrypto has links to Russia and had previously provided the lawmakers with financial support, as Tusk described it.

The Currency analytics article adds that Tusk accused Zondacrypto of taking money from Russian organized crime, specifically “the Bratva. And Russian intelligence services.”

Devdiscourse similarly frames the controversy as Tusk accusing “a cryptocurrency firm with Russian links of financing certain Polish politicians and influencing major political events,” while naming Zondacrypto as the firm at the center of the dispute.

Alongside the political accusations, Zondacrypto’s operational problems—frozen or delayed withdrawals—have been central to the dispute, with CoinDesk reporting that the exchange faced “frozen or delayed customer withdrawals” since late March.

CoinDesk says CEO Przemysław Kral turned to X to defuse allegations the company was helping itself to investors’ funds to bulk up declining reserves, and that in a statement and video published on the platform, Kral said the exchange had sufficient reserves.

CoinDesk

CoinDesk adds that Kral disclosed a bitcoin wallet holding about 4,500 BTC, “about $330 million,” but admitted “It can't access the funds because the previous owner didn't hand over the private key and has now disappeared.”

The article identifies the previous owner as former CEO Sylwester Suszek, and says the key was not handed over by Suszek in 2021 when ownership of the exchange, then known as BitBay, transferred and Kral took over.

CoinDesk also reports that Suszek has been missing for four years, and that local media reports say blockchain data show Zondacrypto’s hot wallets have been largely drained.

It further cites analysis by blockchain intelligence firm Recoveris, stating that “bitcoin balances in hot wallets tied to Zonda have dropped by about 99% since mid-2024.”

In a separate Bitget-hosted item, the same core admission is repeated: Kral “stated that the company has enough liquidity, but admitted they could not access a wallet containing 4,500 BTC that was locked due to the previous CEO losing the private key.”

Kral’s responses to the allegations have combined public claims of solvency with specific explanations for the wallet and withdrawal issues, and CoinDesk reports that he framed the situation as part of a broader campaign against the company.

“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”

CoinDesk

CoinDesk says Kral denied any misuse of client funds and said the exchange remains profitable, while also publicizing the inaccessible wallet to prove the exchange has reserves.

It quotes Kral’s effort to counter accusations by saying he revealed the wallet address to “cut short the unfounded accusations of alleged misappropriation of funds.”

CoinDesk also reports that at one point Kral threatened legal action against Polish news outlets covering the situation.

In an April 6 post on X, CoinDesk says Kral described reports of declining reserves as stemming from a “fundamental analytical error” by focusing solely on hot wallets, and it adds that at the time Zonda stood as a “stable, solvent, and secure entity.”

CoinDesk further states that Kral said that, for withdrawal delays, the platform processed “tens of thousands of requests in a short period, far above normal levels,” and that “the implementation of new, advanced security and transaction monitoring systems” forced manual withdrawal verifications.

CoinDesk also reports that the wallet presented as proof of reserves “has seen little recent activity,” with onchain data showing “no outgoing movements whatsoever” and “a total of 32 receiving transactions.”

The controversy around Zondacrypto is described as long-running, with CoinDesk pointing to earlier regulatory and investigative actions in Poland.

CoinDesk says Polish investigative reporting led by broadcaster TVN in 2024 identified shareholder Marek K., who held a 35% stake, as a criminal sentenced to eight years in prison for complicity in a 1995 gangland murder and fined 45 million zlotys ($12.5 million) for VAT fraud.

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It also states that in 2019, Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) placed BitBay on its public warning list for unauthorized financial activities.

CoinDesk further reports that in January 2025, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection started an investigation—still in progress—into BB Trade Estonia, Zonda’s owner, for “violating the collective interests of consumers,” as Fakt reported earlier this month.

The CoinDesk account also ties the present political fight to the veto and the legislative push to regulate crypto, including a description of the vote count and the inability to overturn the veto based on mandates.

In the same CoinDesk reporting, TVP World is cited for the parliamentary arithmetic, stating “191 MPs voted in favor of Nawrocki’s veto and 243 against it, 20 mandates too few to overturn the block.”

Devdiscourse adds that critics argue the proposed regulations would align Poland with EU crypto standards, while opponents say the current proposal is flawed, and it notes that Nawrocki had previously vetoed efforts to regulate the Polish crypto market.

The Currency analytics article adds a further layer by saying Zondacrypto told Polish media it is cooperating with authorities who are looking into the matter, while emphasizing that the company’s response offered “No denial. No detailed rebuttal to Tusk’s claims about Bratva funding or intelligence service ties.”

The political dispute is also tied to events and named figures, with Devdiscourse describing Zondacrypto’s sponsorship of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Rzeszow and saying it occurred “just days before crucial Polish elections.”

“Community Trust ScoreVerified Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk just threw a grenade into his country’s crypto debate”

The Currency analytics

Devdiscourse states that CPAC in Rzeszow featured former US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem openly backing nationalist candidate Karol Nawrocki for the presidency, and it frames the sponsorship as occurring “just days before crucial Polish elections.”

CoinDesk

CoinDesk, meanwhile, reports that Tusk’s comments came before a vote to overturn Nawrocki’s veto and that Tusk said the company had sponsored some politicians who opposed crypto market regulation, with the blocking described as “toeing Zondacrypto's line.”

The Currency analytics article adds named reactions from the president’s office and from Confederation, saying Zbigniew Bogucki, speaking for the president’s office, pushed back by arguing Nawrocki “didn’t like how the rules were written, not the idea of regulating crypto itself,” and it quotes Sławomir Mentzen warning that Tusk’s proposed legislation would “wreck Poland’s crypto market.”

It also says Tusk pointed to Zondacrypto’s role in a Conservative Political Action Conference event in Rzeszów, “just days before Poland’s March 2025 presidential election.”

Looking ahead, CoinDesk reports that the furor revives the long-running controversy and that Zondacrypto’s situation is still unfolding amid withdrawal issues and ongoing investigations, while Devdiscourse notes that critics argue the proposed regulations would align Poland with EU crypto standards and opponents say the current proposal is flawed.

The Currency analytics article concludes by framing the vote as pivotal, stating “The vote matters. A lot,” and describing that the government wants to align Poland with European Union standards for digital assets while opponents fear the rules will “kill innovation and push crypto firms out of Poland.”