Zondacrypto loses Estonia license as collapse fallout grows

The recently failed coin trading platform Zondacrypto has had its license suspended by the financial authorities in Estonia, where its operator is based.

The Polish-rooted exchange is also being targeted with a bankruptcy motion initiated by lawyers representing customers who lost assets in the crash.

Estonia bans Zonda from accepting new funds and clients

Estonia’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has suspended the license of BB Trade OÜ, the local entity which was running Zondacrypto.

Focused on the Polish market, the cryptocurrency exchange was one of the largest in Central and Eastern Europe, before it collapsed last month.

On Monday, the Estonian regulator announced it’s prohibiting the company from accepting any additional assets, fiat or crypto, and adding new clients.

The agency made it clear, however, this is a partial suspension, which will not prevent the return or withdrawal of funds by current customers. It also stated:

“By the same decision, the FIU ordered BB Trade Estonia OÜ to bring its operations into compliance with the conditions required for holding the operating license.”

The crypto firm has been given 30 days to do so but the measure will remain in effect until the FIU verifies that all legal requirements are met. Failure will result in permanent revocation.

The body noted it’s issuing the precept under the country’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act and Economic Activities Code.

It also urged clients of Trade Estonia OÜ, who are unable to recover their assets, to contact law enforcement authorities in the countries where they reside.

The latest announcement from the FIU comes after earlier in May the authority warned BB Trade about the lack of a published white paper for the TeamPL token it issues.

The warning cited a rule from the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation. It was issued after Zonda had already halted withdrawals amid liquidity issues in April.

Polish customers to apply for Zondacrypto’s bankruptcy in Estonia

Meanwhile, lawyers representing the Polish victims of the crypto crash have been preparing to file for the bankruptcy of the operating entity behind the troubled exchange.

The main purpose of the proceedings is to trace and secure as much as possible of the BB Trade’s remaining assets before they disappear, the Bitcoin.pl portal revealed in a report on Tuesday.

The application will be submitted to an Estonian court. Law enforcement officials in the Baltic state are yet to launch a probe into the case but confirmed they are in contact with their Polish colleagues.

The Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice is already investigating the collapse. According to its estimates, at least 30,000 people have lost 350 million zloty (over $95 million).

The Polish prosecutors have seized 104 electronic devices and over 13 terabytes of data from the company’s servers in Poland.

According to an analysis by Recoveris, $21.2 million were transferred out of Zonda wallets, between December 2025 and April 2026, in 511 individual transactions using 30 different coins.

Media reports quoting research data from the same market intelligence firm first revealed last month that the exchange had lost 99% of its reserves.

While rejecting claims it’s on the brink of insolvency, Zonda CEO Przemysław Kral admitted the company didn’t have access to a wallet with 450 BTC since its founder’s disappearance in 2022.

The crypto service provider was established as BitBay in 2014 by Sylwester Suszek, who sold it in 2021 when the platform was rebranded to Zondacrypto. Suszek is still missing, presumed dead.

According to an article by the Gazeta Wyborcza daily, quoting the Polish counterintelligence agency ABW, Poland’s leading digital-asset exchange has been controlled by the Russian mafia.

Kral, who also holds an Israeli passport, has remained silent since mid-April and is believed to be hiding in Dubai, together with a man identified by the Polish news outlet Onet Wiadomości as Marian W.

The publication alleged that the latter, also known by his nickname “Maniek,” was the one actually running Zonda from Monaco, while Suszek and later Kral served merely as front men.

If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.