Customers of the troubled digital-asset exchange Zondacrypto may be entitled to financial compensation from the state despite the lack of proper crypto regulation in Poland.
Local media highlighted the option in reports that traders have lost access to at least 350 million złoty worth of funds on the platform, which restricted withdrawals amid issues with solvency.
Poland launches investigation into Zonda’s crash
Polish law enforcement authorities are now looking into the case of Zondacrypto, a major exchange on the local market that stopped processing client transactions amid liquidity issues.
Prosecutors unveiled this week they have identified hundreds of potential victims whose losses may exceed 350 million zloty (over $95 million). A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office stated:
“We are currently talking about several hundred people, but this number is constantly growing … The scale of the possible fraud is very large.”
The news came amid mounting complaints by users unable to reach their holdings, worrying revelations about Zonda’s financial state, employee layoffs and executive resignations.
Concerns about its solvency started growing earlier in April when an analysis conducted by the market intelligence firm Recoveris found that the platform had lost over 99% of its reserves.
While rejecting media reports quoting the study, and maintaining the exchange remains stable, its CEO Przemysław Kral admitted the company does not have access to a wallet with 4,500 BTC.
According to the chief executive, missing founder Sylwester Suszek never handed over the key to the wallet holding over $330 million worth of bitcoins at the time of his announcement.
Suszek established the cryptocurrency company as BitBay back in 2014, the Notes from Poland portal recalled in a report on Tuesday.
It was sold to a U.S. investor and rebranded as Zondacrypto in 2021, with management transferred to Kral, who expanded the business, including through active advertising and sponsorship in sports.
Suszek disappeared in March the following year. Founded in Poland, Zonda now operates under an Estonian license.
Zonda ceases operations amid layoffs and resignations
While Zondacrypto is yet to formally declare bankruptcy, termination agreements sent to employees cite “complete liquidation” as the reason for their release, Bankier.pl revealed Wednesday.
Documents seen by other Polish media outlets, such as the financial news website Money.pl, also indicate the crypto company is ceasing operations.
All members of the supervisory board of the platform’s operator, BB Trade Estonia, resigned last week. Their departures were followed by the resignations of its compliance and cybersecurity directors.
According to laid-off employees contacted by the press, the exchange is in a state of disarray. Some of their accounts suggest debt to customers may ultimately exceed 500 million zloty.
Meanwhile, some media reports alleged that Zonda’s CEO may have disappeared, too. Kral hasn’t commented publicly on the fate of the company he was running since mid-April.
Zondacrypto users may apply for compensation, expert says
Some 30,000 clients may have been affected by the collapse of the leading Polish crypto exchange amid suspicions of fraud, according to one estimate.
While Poland is yet to comprehensively regulate its digital-asset market, provisions in existing Polish law allow customers to seek compensation for their losses from the state.
“There will be lawsuits – against the company itself, against members of its governing bodies, but this is also where things get really interesting – against the State Treasury,” a lawyer told Bankier.pl.
According to the legal expert, Jan Ziomek, these may be filed in both Poland and Estonia and customers have strong grounds for such claims.
He advised users to gather all available data, including balance confirmations, transaction histories as well as any correspondence with customer service.
Polish politicians, mainly from the ruling center-left coalition led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, have been trying to link their losses to the absence of dedicated crypto legislation.
A government-proposed bill designed to implement the EU’s MiCA rules has been rejected twice by President Karol Nawrocki and failed to overcome his veto again last week, as reported by Cryptopolitan.