Polish Exchange Zondacrypto Halts Operations; Customers Lost $95 Million, May Seek State Compensation

Gate News message, April 23 — Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto has ceased operations this week amid solvency issues, with prosecutors identifying hundreds of potential victims who have lost access to at least 350 million Polish zloty (approximately $95 million). Prosecutors stated that the scale of possible fraud is “very large” and the number of affected users continues to grow.

Concerns about the platform’s financial stability emerged in early April when market intelligence firm Recoveris found that Zondacrypto had lost over 99% of its reserves. CEO Przemysław Kral acknowledged the company lacks access to a wallet containing 4,500 BTC (worth over $330 million at the time of his announcement). The missing bitcoin wallet belonged to founder Sylwester Suszek, who disappeared in March 2022 after the exchange was rebranded from BitBay.

Termination agreements sent to employees cite “complete liquidation” as the reason for layoffs. All members of the supervisory board of the platform’s operator, BB Trade Estonia, resigned last week, followed by departures of compliance and cybersecurity directors. Laid-off employees suggest total customer debt may exceed 500 million zloty.

Despite Poland’s lack of comprehensive crypto regulation, existing Polish law allows customers to seek compensation from the state. Legal experts advise affected users to gather balance confirmations, transaction histories, and correspondence with customer service. Potential claims may be filed in both Poland and Estonia. An estimated 30,000 clients may have been affected by the exchange’s collapse.