Zonda Hit by Withdrawal Turmoil as Private Key for 4,503-BTC Cold Wallet Was Never Handed Over

Polish crypto exchange Zonda is facing renewed scrutiny after CEO Przemysław Kral said a cold wallet holding about 4,503 bitcoin—worth roughly $334 million at current prices—was never fully transferred during the company's ownership handover. In a video statement released Thursday and cited by ChainThink via Cointelegraph, Kral disclosed the wallet for the first time and said its last on-chain transaction dates to November 2025. He said the wallet's private key was meant to be delivered by Zonda founder and former CEO Sylwester Suszek, who has been unreachable since March 2022. Kral rejected allegations of embezzlement, saying the missing key is the main reason he has been urgently trying to locate Suszek. Zonda has also become the subject of multiple controversies, with local media reporting that Polish authorities have opened an investigation. Recoveris, a blockchain analytics firm, said a sharp drop in Zonda's hot-wallet balance suggests the exchange may be insolvent. Kral had previously denied bankruptcy claims on April 6, stating the platform holds more than 4,500 BTC and remains fully solvent. Kral said withdrawal demand spiked sharply around April 6: while Zonda typically handles about 100,000 withdrawal requests annually, it received more than 25,000 requests within a span of hours to several days. He attributed the surge to panic withdrawals driven by negative media coverage and said the company plans legal action over what it calls false accusations, while committing to meet user withdrawal obligations. Polish MP Tomasz Mentzen wrote on X that Zonda could permanently lose access to the cold wallet if Suszek remains missing. Kral did not explicitly state that the funds have been lost.