Poland's Zondacrypto faces Ponzi allegations as 4,500 BTC cold-wallet key goes missing

ChainCatcher reports that Zondacrypto, one of Poland's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, is under a major fraud probe. Investigators say the platform's former CEO vanished in 2022 with the private key to a cold wallet holding 4,500 BTC, now valued at more than $340 million. The current CEO has acknowledged he cannot access the wallet and has reportedly fled to Israel. Prosecutors estimate possible customer losses of about $97 million. On-chain data shows the exchange's hot-wallet bitcoin balance has fallen 99.7% since mid-2024, while users have widely reported problems withdrawing funds. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said as many as 30,000 users could be affected. Tusk accused Zondacrypto of being backed by Russian-linked capital and alleged it was used to finance opposition lawmakers to block Poland's crypto-regulation efforts. He called it a "Polish Ponzi scheme" and criticized the president for twice vetoing Poland's local implementation of the EU's MiCA framework, arguing the delays have turned the country into a "haven for fraudsters." Zondacrypto's board said it has received no "verifiable information" from the missing former CEO and announced a collective resignation. The founder has been missing since 2022, and a previously cited case involving alleged kidnapping remains under investigation. The case is expected to intensify regulatory scrutiny of crypto exchanges in Poland and across the EU.