Donald Tusk Links Opposition Foundations to Zondacrypto Payments Amid Regulatory Veto

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused President Karol Nawrocki, the Law and Justice party (PiS), and the Confederation political grouping on Wednesday of blocking cryptocurrency market regulations while foundations linked to them received payments from the chief executive of troubled exchange Zondacrypto. Tusk, speaking before a government meeting, said he was acting on information provided by the Internal Security Agency (ABW) and called for a swift re-vote in the Sejm on the presidential veto of the crypto-asset market act. He directed his appeal to Deputy Marshal of the Sejm Włodzimierz Czarzasty to schedule the vote on rejecting the veto as quickly as possible. The accusations came amid mounting reports of serious liquidity problems at Zondacrypto, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Central and Eastern Europe, whose clients have been reporting multi-hour and multi-day delays in withdrawing funds.

Zondacrypto has operated under its current name since 2021, having previously functioned as BitBay since its founding in 2014. The exchange is registered in Estonia under the company BB Trade Estonia OÜ and supports trading of over 150 cryptocurrencies. President Karol Nawrocki vetoed the act on the crypto-assets market for the second time in February 2026, blocking legislation intended to introduce supervisory measures over the sector. The act constituted Poland's implementation of the EU MiCA directive, which governs the cryptocurrency market across member states.

Tusk stated that at the turn of October and November 2025 — approximately one month before the Sejm vote on the presidential veto — Zondacrypto chief executive Przemysław Kral made payments to two foundations. According to the Prime Minister, Kral transferred to the Polish Sovereignty Institute foundation associated with politician Zbigniew Ziobro, with part of those funds reportedly allocated to lawyers representing Dariusz Matecki and Father Michał Olszewski. Tusk further stated that a company associated with Kral — identified in source reporting as Expo Fair Service House — transferred to the "Good Government" foundation linked to Confederation MP Przemysław Wipler. Tusk also noted that Zondacrypto served as the main sponsor of the CPAC event in Poland during the presidential campaign, at which both then-candidate Karol Nawrocki and former President Andrzej Duda were among the most prominent participants.

2024-08: 55.7, 2026-03: 0.18

Wipler sets midnight deadline for Tusk apology Confederation MP Przemysław Wipler rejected the accusations in a statement published on the X platform and issued an ultimatum demanding a public apology from Tusk by midnight on April 8, 2026. Wipler described Tusk's suggestions as "absurd" and said they constituted an insinuation violating his good name, adding that he had not conducted any talks regarding the crypto-asset act with any representatives of the President's Chancellery. He stated that he took no part in the parliamentary work on the draft act implementing the MiCA regulation. „I expect an apology from Donald Tusk in this matter today by midnight. Otherwise, I will file a notification to the prosecutor's office regarding the defamation he committed, as well as his abuse of power consisting in the public use of information collected by the ABW” — Przemysław Wipler via Polsat News Wipler additionally announced he would demand written information on the legal basis for surveillance activities conducted against institutions associated with the political opposition. He acknowledged that the Good Government Foundation had a commercial relationship with a company identified in reporting as Expofer Servis House, but stated the services were limited to analytical work and had no connection to any legislative process. Wipler also argued that the government's crypto-asset bill was itself "terrible" and the most restrictive in the entire European Union, and that only someone with no understanding of the market could believe its passage would harm Zondacrypto's operations.

Prosecutor's office opens inquiry as exchange clients face withdrawal delays The scale of Zondacrypto's reported financial difficulties provided the backdrop for the entire political confrontation. An analysis conducted by the company Recoveris for Money.pl and Wirtualna Polska found that the average monthly bitcoin balance in Zondacrypto wallets fell from approximately 55.7 BTC in August 2024 to 0.18 BTC in March 2026, a decline of 99.7 (%) — drop in Zondacrypto BTC reserves over 19 months. Blockchain analysis cited in reporting further revealed that assets worth over 21 million dollars — equivalent to 76.1 million PLN — were transferred from the exchange in 511 operations between December 18, 2025, and April 2, 2026. Kral publicly denied the liquidity allegations, stating that withdrawals were being processed manually due to a "technical problem" and claiming the wallet balance on April 1 stood at over 4,500 BTC. The National Prosecutor's Office announced it would investigate media reports of irregularities at the exchange, with proceedings to be carried out by the Silesian department at the initiative of the Prosecutor General. Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski, speaking at a press conference and in an interview with TOK FM, placed responsibility for the absence of oversight directly on the presidential veto. „The Polish president vetoed the security of the crypto-asset market and we have what we have. Zondacrypto should have supervision over it. The lack of this supervision means that we are unable to answer the simplest questions — whether citizens' assets are safe” — Krzysztof Gawkowski via TOK FM The head of NASK, Radosław Nielek, separately cautioned Zondacrypto clients to be vigilant against potential scammers seeking to exploit the situation, noting that such attempts regularly accompany high-profile financial incidents.