Nawrocki said on Thursday that Zondacrypto had sponsored conferences involving politicians from across Poland’s political spectrum, including Prime Minister Donald Tusk and members of his government.
The president was responding to questions about his appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in southeastern Poland in May last year, during his presidential campaign. Zondacrypto was among the event’s sponsors.
The cryptocurrency exchange has since become the subject of a major investigation in Poland. Prosecutors are investigating suspected fraud and money laundering linked to its operations, while its Estonia-based operator was declared bankrupt on August 27.
Nawrocki pointed to the European Economic Congress (EEC) in Katowice, southern Poland, in 2024, where he said Zondacrypto was among the sponsors and partners.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Tusk took part in the opening, according to Nawrocki, while Finance Minister Andrzej Domański and then-Justice Minister Adam Bodnar appeared in the program.
He also cited the Hack Summit, a cybersecurity conference in Warsaw last year, where Zondacrypto was a main sponsor. Governm"ent officials including Krzysztof Gawkowski, Cezary Tomczyk and Dariusz Standerski attended, Nawrocki said.
Zondacrypto was also a partner of the CyberSec cybersecurity conference in the southern city of Kraków in 2025, which was opened by the city’s mayor, Aleksander Miszalski, a member of Tusk’s centrist Civic Platform party, now renamed the Civic Coalition (KO), Nawrocki told reporters.
'These things outrage me'
At the same time, the president criticized contacts between Michał Moskal, a lawmaker from the conservative opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, and Zondacrypto chief Przemysław Kral.
"These things outrage me," Nawrocki said. He added that his office had not been involved in financial or in-kind arrangements with businesspeople and said such relationships "should not happen in politics."
The dispute comes as the lower house of Poland’s parliament prepares to vote on Friday on whether to override Nawrocki’s latest veto of legislation regulating the crypto-assets market.
Nawrocki vetoed the bill on June 11, saying lawmakers had again failed to address his objections. It was his third veto of legislation intended to regulate the sector.
The president said on Thursday that crypto users needed legal protection, while legitimate Polish startups and people who had committed no wrongdoing should not be "thrown into the same bag as fraudsters."
He accused the parliamentary majority of repeatedly sending him essentially the same legislation rather than taking account of objections raised by his office and some lawmakers within the governing coalition.
Nawrocki has proposed his own legislation for the crypto-assets market. He said his approach had failed to win support in parliament.
The government argues that regulation is necessary to protect customers and strengthen supervision of cryptocurrency businesses, a case it has pressed more forcefully since the Zondacrypto investigation expanded.
To override the veto, the lower house needs a three-fifths majority with at least half of its 460 lawmakers present.
If the veto is overridden, the president must sign the legislation.
(rt/gs)
Source: TVP Info, IAR/PAP