Crypto▼ Bearish
Ex-Zondacrypto CEO Seeks Lighter Sentence After $650M Customer Loss
Ex-CEO Przemysław Kral cooperates with Polish prosecutors as customer losses from the collapsed exchange reach $650 million. Over 3,600 complaints filed. On-chain data challenges Kral's cold wallet claims.
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The former CEO of Zondacrypto, one of Poland's largest crypto exchanges, now cooperates with prosecutors in a bid for a lighter sentence.
Przemysław Kral faces large-scale fraud charges. He works with the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Katowice under Poland's Article 60, which lets courts cut sentences for defendants who provide evidence against other suspects, prosecutors said.
Customer losses initially pegged at around 350 million PLN, about $80 million to $97 million. That number has climbed to roughly €560 million, or $650 million, according to prosecutors. More than 3,600 complaints have been filed. The victim count runs into the tens of thousands.
The exchange's website went dark in April 2026. Estonia suspended its operating license the next month and formally revoked it on June 29, 2026.
The exchange's founder, Sylwester Suszek, went missing in March 2022. Kral said in April 2026 that access to a cold wallet holding 4,503 BTC depended solely on Suszek. On-chain data showed significant outflows from that wallet before the exchange collapsed, leaving Kral's claim under scrutiny.
Prosecutors have seized roughly 250 terabytes of transaction records and client data. The investigation uncovered links to organized crime, though the exact nature of those ties remains under examination.