Update – 6 May 2026: Deputy Minister of Justice Arkadiusz Myrcha has announced that the total number of reports of possible criminal offences in the Zondacrypto case has now reached around 1,500. The Regional Public Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice is taking steps to secure funds for the victims, although the details regarding the amount secured are not yet known.
Zondacrypto is a now-defunct so-called cryptocurrency exchange – a platform that was used to buy, sell and store Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. The cryptocurrency market, whilst full of opportunities, is still poorly regulated, which entails significant risks.
Cases involving cryptocurrencies are complex from both a technical and legal perspective. Defining these digital assets, analysing the blockchain, and understanding the specific nature of trading on cryptocurrency exchanges require expertise that goes beyond the standard scope of criminal law.
Our law firm possesses the necessary expertise and many years of experience in the field of cryptocurrencies. We help victims navigate the complex Polish criminal proceedings, ensuring that:
- The report of a suspected offence (i.e. coming forward as a victim in the investigation) is drafted correctly from a legal perspective.
- The evidence is consistent and clear to the law enforcement authorities.
- The damages are correctly calculated, and the claim for compensation is formulated correctly and submitted within the appropriate timeframe.
- Your interests are represented at every stage of the case.
We act as your legal representative, appearing before the authorities on your behalf (you do not need to act on your own). An attorney-at-law represents your interests throughout the proceedings, both during the investigation and in any subsequent court proceedings.
If you have been affected by the Zondacrypto scandal, don’t delay. Time is often of the essence in cryptocurrency cases. Contact our law firm to receive professional legal support and secure your rights in the ongoing investigation. Write an email to dariusz.jarmoc@livros-kancelaria.pl or contact us by phone or WhatsApp: (+48) 452-808-508.
The situation is evolving – we’re keeping a close eye on developments
The Zondacrypto case is developing rapidly. New facts are emerging, further witnesses are being interviewed, and the prosecution is securing further evidence (including in Estonia, where BB Trade Estonia OÜ, the company operating the Zondacrypto exchange, is formally based). Legal proceedings may also take place in other countries where companies linked to Zondacrypto are based – including Luxembourg, Dubai and Switzerland. Our law firm keeps a close eye on all news and updates regarding this matter. This ensures that our clients can be confident that their legal strategy is tailored to the current stage of the investigation.
A brief account of the origins of the Zondacrypto scandal
The so-called Zondacrypto crisis began in early 2026. As early as December 2025, the first reports of withdrawal delays began to emerge – users reported that they had to wait several days for their funds to be withdrawn. Zondacrypto staff claimed at the time that this was due to the platform’s high popularity and the introduction of new security protocols. A flood of reports came in at the end of March 2026. At that time, blockchain analysts (a blockchain is a publicly accessible cryptocurrency ledger that anyone can view, but from which no one can delete or falsify anything) determined that the average balance in Zondacrypto’s virtual wallets (hot wallets) holding Bitcoin (BTC) had decreased significantly over a period of approximately 1.5 years – whilst in August 2024 the average monthly balance stood at around 55.7 BTC (approx. PLN 13–14 million), by April 2026 it had fallen to just 0.086 BTC (approx. PLN 22,000), representing a decline of around 99.7%. It could be said that this was when the scandal surrounding the Zondacrypto cryptocurrency exchange began, a scandal that continues to this day and is growing in scale.
Responding to the above allegations, Przemysław Kral, the head of the Zondacrypto cryptocurrency exchange (and former legal director of BitBay, Zondacrypto’s predecessor), in a statement given on 17 April 2026, denied any problems and pointed out that Zondacrypto holds a wallet containing approximately 4,500 Bitcoins with a total value of around USD 330 million, and that Zondacrypto is operating normally and is solvent.
Over the next few days, however, it emerged that Zondacrypto had not had access to this wallet for several years, meaning it had and still has no access to Bitcoins worth a total of around $330 million, which were supposed to form the exchange’s entire reserve (foundation) and serve as collateral for the withdrawal of clients’ funds. Przemysław Kral pointed out that the exchange does not have access to this wallet, as the so-called private key (a type of password – a long string of characters designed to protect access to the wallet) was held exclusively by Sylwester Suszek (founder and long-standing CEO of the BitBay exchange), who went missing under unexplained circumstances in March 2022. This information had been kept secret until now – customers were depositing their savings (often as much as hundreds of thousands of USD) into the Zondacrypto exchange without realising that the exchange had no access to its main financial resources, and that there might come a time when it would be unable to pay out their money to customers. Unfortunately, that time arrived at the turn of March and April 2026.
The investigation by the Regional Public Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice into Zondacrypto
Consequently, on 17 April 2026, the Regional Public Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice, Poland (Polish: Prokuratura Regionalna w Katowicach) launched an investigation, file reference 2003-2.Ds 14.2026, concerning Zondacrypto. The subject of the proceedings is the misleading of numerous individuals regarding the possibility of purchasing and holding fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies via the Zondacrypto exchange, thereby leading to the unfavourable disposal of assets, i.e. an offence under Article 286(1) of the Polish Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 294(1) of the Polish Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 12(1) of the Polish Criminal Code. The investigation covers activities taking place from 2022 onwards.
Reports from victims are being received by the Regional Public Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice from across the country, and the total amount of the loss is still rising. It currently stands at no less than USD 350 mln (ca. USD 100 mln). As of May 2026, over 1,500 victims reported their cases to the Prosecutor’s Office. The investigation has been entrusted to a special police unit – the Wrocław Branch of the Central Cybercrime Bureau (Polish: Zarząd we Wrocławiu Centralnego Biura Zwalczania Cyberprzestępczości).
What can a victim who has lost their money on Zondacrypto do?
If your funds have been frozen or you feel you have been wronged by this platform, it is important to act quickly and decisively. A key piece of information for all those affected is that the Regional Public Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice is conducting a very wide investigation into irregularities relating to the operation of the Zondacrypto exchange. This is currently the most important body to which reports from victims should be directed. Although civil law measures (e.g. claims for payment, bailiff enforcement) are possible, their effectiveness – given media reports – may be very limited. In our law firm’s view, the primary course of action for any victim should be to express their willingness to take part in the criminal proceedings, i.e. to file a report of a suspected offence. This will enable the Prosecutor’s Office to formally recognise you as a victim, and the court will then be able to award you compensation.
In its official statements, the Regional Public Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice is urging all victims to contact their nearest police station or public prosecutor’s office in Poland to file a report.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office urges all victims to include at least the following documentation with their report:
- Screenshots visible after logging into your Zondacrypto account, including those showing the current contents and value of your wallet (which cryptocurrencies, how many) and your account details (username, email address).
- Transaction history on Zondacrypto (deposits, withdrawals, currency conversions) – you can generate a file on the Zondacrypto website.
- Email correspondence to and from Zondacrypto covering as long a period as possible – if possible, it is advisable to create a single file (archive) containing all emails to and from Zondacrypto; if not, save each email separately (e.g. using the Print -> Save as PDF option, or by saving each message to an .eml file). It is best to organise all files chronologically, for example by including the date of the email (at the start of the filename) in the format ‘2026.05.08’ (e.g. ‘2026.05.08 – payment confirmation’). We recommend that you do not delete any emails from your inbox.
- Confirmation of bank transfers made to Zondacrypto accounts (by downloading PDF files from online banking, or by obtaining archived statements from the bank).
- Information on when and for what amount withdrawal requests were made from Zondacrypto, including withdrawals that were not processed in full or in part (it is worth attaching, for example, screenshots showing any errors that appeared when attempting to withdraw funds).
Don’t wait – report your case to the Prosecutor’s Office as soon as possible
If you have been affected by the Zondacrypto scandal, don’t delay. Time is often of the essence in cryptocurrency cases. Contact our law firm to receive professional legal support and secure your rights in the ongoing investigation. Write an email to dariusz.jarmoc@livros-kancelaria.pl or contact us by phone or WhatsApp: (+48) 452-808-508.
Our law firm is based in Białystok, Poland, but we assist victims from all over the world, including remotely.
Autor artykułu:
tel. (+48) 452-808-508
LIVROS Kancelaria Radcy Prawnego Dariusz Jarmoc
ul. Wyszyńskiego 2/1 lok. 114, Białystok
https://www.livros-kancelaria.pl/
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