Estonia partially suspends Zondacrypto, blocks deposits

Estonia’s Financial Intelligence Unit on Monday partially suspended the operating license of BB Trade Estonia OÜ, the company behind the Zondacrypto exchange. The FIU barred the platform from accepting customer deposits or onboarding new clients, while allowing existing users to withdraw funds. The regulator gave the firm 30 days to bring operations into line with legal requirements.

The FIU said, “If it fails to do so, the law obliges the FIU to revoke the operating license.” The agency did not specify which compliance breaches led to the partial suspension.

Zondacrypto started in Poland in 2014 as BitBay and has been registered in Estonia since September 2019. The exchange has reported withdrawal problems in recent weeks. Company leadership reported that a cold wallet holding about 4,500 Bitcoin-roughly $346 million at current prices-was inaccessible.

Polish officials have highlighted the case. Prime Minister Donald Tusk referred to about 30,000 people who may have suffered crypto-related losses linked to the platform. Some Polish lawmakers have questioned delays and inconsistencies in the country’s implementation of the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, and some commentators raised concerns about alleged links to Russian capital.

Estonia’s Financial Supervision and Resolution Authority on May 8 warned that a Zondacrypto token called TeamPL was listed without the white paper required under the EU regulation. Separately, the FSA recently granted a MiCA license to LHV Pank.

Several key employees left BB Trade Estonia OÜ after the recent developments. Attempts to contact the company by email were reported as undelivered, and market data showed little trading activity on the platform at the time of the suspension.

If BB Trade Estonia OÜ does not meet the FIU’s compliance requirements within the 30-day window, Estonian law requires the regulator to revoke the company’s operating license.