Polish prosecutors charge Olympic Committee head in Zondacrypto investigation
Quick Look
- Polish prosecutors charged Radosław Piesiewicz, head of the Polish Olympic Committee, with influence peddling and preferential treatment of creditors during insolvency related to the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto.
- The exchange stopped trading in April 2025 amid a liquidity crisis and could not access a wallet holding approximately 4,500 Bitcoin due to lost private keys.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Zondacrypto was a cryptocurrency exchange that became a general sponsor of the Polish Olympic Committee in October 2025 before halting trading in April 2025 amid a liquidity crisis.
Polish prosecutors charged the head of the Polish Olympic Committee in an investigation linked to defunct cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto.
Authorities detained the committee’s president, Radosław Piesiewicz, in connection with the Zondacrypto probe, Poland’s Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek announced in an X post on Thursday.
Żurek later said prosecutors charged Piesiewicz under two provisions of Poland’s Penal Code, involving allegations of influence peddling and favoring some creditors over others while facing insolvency.
According to local news outlet TVP World, the allegations include Piesiewicz recovering all the money he had invested through Zondacrypto while thousands of other customers could not withdraw their funds. The exchange became a general sponsor of the Polish Olympic Committee in October 2025.
Source: Zondacrypto
Piesiewicz’s detention marks one of the first arrests in the Zondacrypto investigation. The exchange stopped trading in April amid a liquidity crisis, around the same time then-CEO Przemysław Kral said it could not access a wallet holding about 4,500 Bitcoin because it did not have the private keys.
Kral has reportedly been charged with participating in large-scale fraud and is cooperating with investigators in an effort to receive a reduced sentence.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Przemysław Kral will receive a reduced sentence in exchange for continued cooperation with investigators
Likely · Within months
Further charges may be filed against additional individuals connected to Zondacrypto's management
Possible · Within months
Open Questions
- What specific evidence supports the allegations of influence peddling against Piesiewicz?
- How much money did Piesiewicz allegedly recover from Zondacrypto?
- What is the current status of the 4,500 Bitcoin reportedly inaccessible due to lost private keys?
- Are other officials or sponsors of the Polish Olympic Committee under investigation?
