Zondacrypto’s crisis intensified as Polish prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into alleged fraud and investor losses, with CEO Przemysław Kral reportedly fleeing to Israel. According to the Polish outlet Onet, Kral has been in Israel for about a week and holds Israeli citizenship, a detail that could complicate any potential extradition. The probe was opened last Friday and centers on customer complaints and possible losses tied to the platform. According to Onet.

Cointelegraph confirmed that Kral’s email address previously used to communicate with him has become unavailable, and last week he acknowledged that Zondacrypto’s cold wallet holding 4,500 BTC was inaccessible. Prosecutors have identified hundreds of potential victims and losses of at least 350 million Polish zloty (roughly $97 million), notes from Poland cited by prosecutor spokesperson Michał Binkiewicz. Notes from Poland reported the figure.

The mounting controversy has also put pressure on Zondacrypto’s governance. This week, resignations were reported from BB Trade Estonia OÜ, the Estonian entity that operates the exchange. Former supervisory board member Georgi Džaniašvili said the board learned about the scale of the crisis through media reports rather than through internal channels, highlighting “material inconsistencies” between public statements and information available to the board.

Key takeaways

• Polish prosecutors opened a fraud investigation into Zondacrypto last Friday, with losses identified at a minimum of 350 million PLN and hundreds of potential victims, per prosecutor statements cited by Notes from Poland.
• CEO Przemysław Kral reportedly relocated to Israel, where he holds citizenship, a detail that could complicate extradition proceedings; Onet notes he has been in Israel for about a week.
• Resignations from the supervisory board of BB Trade Estonia OÜ, the Estonian operator of Zondacrypto, point to governance strains and concerns about transparency, as described by former board member Georgi Džaniašvili.
• Although registered in Estonia, Zondacrypto maintains a sizable Polish user base, fueling broader regulatory and political scrutiny within the EU’s evolving MiCA framework.

Why Poland and the MiCA context matter for Zondacrypto

The case centers not only on missing access to a substantial cold-storage wallet but also on the jurisdictional complexity of a company registered in Estonia with a large Polish market. Zondacrypto traces its roots to Katowice, where it was founded in 2014 as BitBay. The public narrative from CEO Kral in recent days includes a claim that the company’s founder, Sylwester Suszek, who disappeared in 2022, was responsible for the lack of access to the cold wallet. The backdrop to this crisis has become a flashpoint in Polish politics. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has drawn connections between Zondacrypto’s origins and Russian capital and influence, arguing that up to 30,000 users may have been affected and noting Poland’s delay in implementing a robust investor-protection framework aligned with the EU’s MiCA regime. gov.pl quoted Tusk on the matter.

The broader regulatory setting underscores a central question for the EU: should crypto oversight be centralized at the EU level under MiCA, or primarily implemented at the national level? The debate is intensified by cases like Zondacrypto, which expose gaps in investor protection and cross-border enforcement. While MiCA aims to harmonize standards, enforcement and timely action remain points of contention among member states as EU regulators push for stronger, more consistent oversight of smaller crypto platforms.

What happens next for investors and the market

With investigators probing potential fraud and a missing founder, the path to restitution for affected users remains uncertain. Authorities will likely pursue asset tracing, potential fund recovery, and accountability for executives and board members, all while grappling with cross-border jurisdictional questions. The political dimension—spotlighting national responses to MiCA and centralized oversight—could influence future regulatory posture across Central and Eastern Europe. As the investigation unfolds, readers should monitor updates from Polish authorities and EU regulators for signs of policy shifts that could affect both consumer protections and the operating risk profile of cross-border crypto platforms.

Investors and users should watch for new disclosures about the custody of the 4,500 BTC, developments in extradition or international cooperation, and any formal steps taken by regulators to clarify investor protections for Polish users and the wider EU market.

Crypto markets were relatively calm on Friday as the largest Deribit options settlement of the month cleared roughly $9.87 billion in notional exposure, with traders now turning their attention to next week’s Federal Reserve meeting and a renewed escalation in the Strait of Hormuz.

BTC is changing hands at $78,088, up 0.8% on the day, 2.5% on the week, and 9% on the month. Ether trades at $2,316, flat on the day and down 2.3% over the week. Total crypto market capitalization stands at $2.68 trillion, with $93.8 billion in 24-hour trading volume, per CoinGecko. XRP was held at $1.44, BNB at $638, and Solana at $86.

The April monthly settlement covered 109,000 BTC contracts with $8.55 billion in notional and 563,000 ETH contracts worth $1.32 billion, per Deribit data. The expiry cleared roughly 25% of total Deribit open interest. Heavy call positioning was concentrated at the $75,000 and $80,000 strikes heading into settlement, according to CoinGlass.

ETF Flows Diverge

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs logged $223 million in net inflows Thursday, extending their winning streak to eight consecutive sessions, per SoSoValue. BlackRock’s IBIT continued to anchor the flows.

Spot Ether ETFs broke a 10-day inflow run with $75.9 million in Thursday outflows.

Meanwhile, CoinShares’ weekly report pegged total digital asset fund inflows for the week ended April 17 at $1.4 billion, the strongest weekly print since mid-January.

Hormuz Escalation Resets Risk Backdrop

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social Thursday that he had ordered the U.S. Navy to “shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be, that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” and directed minesweeping operations to triple in pace. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps laid fresh mines this week and seized two commercial vessels on Wednesday, per a subsequent statement from U.S. Central Command.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tehran’s measures in the strait are “entirely lawful,” according to IRNA. Tanker transits through the waterway, which in peacetime handles roughly 20% of global oil flows, have collapsed since the conflict began.

Fed Meeting Ahead

The Federal Open Market Committee meets April 28 to 29, with CME FedWatch pricing in a near-certainty of an unchanged federal funds rate. The Bureau of Economic Analysis will release Q1 GDP and March PCE on April 30.

In this video, we’ll explore the key economic events and market trends, shaping the financial landscape. Get ready for insights into financial markets to help you navigate the week ahead. Let’s dive in!

In this episode of Market Insights, Gary Thomson unpacks the strategic implications of the most critical events driving global markets.

👉 Key topics covered in this episode:

✔️ BoC Interest Rate Decision
The Bank of Canada will announce its rate decision on 29 April, with rates expected to remain unchanged. However, the focus will be on its updated outlook for inflation and growth. With energy prices pushing inflation higher while underlying pressures ease, the tone of the Monetary Policy Report could drive volatility in the Canadian dollar.

✔️ Fed Interest Rate Decision
The Federal Reserve will also announce its rate decision on 29 April. Although rates are forecast to stay unchanged, the press conference may be important. Shifting expectations towards a prolonged pause could drive volatility in the USD and global markets. Will the Fed maintain a cautious tone, or surprise markets with a shift in outlook?

✔️ BoE Interest Rate Decision
The Bank of England’s interest rate decision will be released on 30 April, with no changes expected. However, the vote split could influence sterling, especially as inflation rises but policymakers remain cautious. Will the Bank signal future tightening, or maintain a wait-and-see approach?

✔️  ECB Interest Rate Decision
The European Central Bank will deliver its monetary decision on 30 April. As rates are anticipated to hold, guidance from Christine Lagarde and the tone of the press conference could drive euro volatility. Will the ECB maintain a cautious pause, or signal readiness to tighten policy soon?

✔️ Earnings Reports
On 29–30 April, major earnings from the so-called Magnificent Seven corporations — including Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Apple — could drive equity market movements, with investors focusing on AI, cloud, advertising, and consumer demand trends. Will earnings support US equity indices, or trigger a broader reassessment of tech valuations?

Heading into the week, geopolitics, central bank decisions, and major earnings could drive markets. With several key events clustered together, volatility may stay elevated, making risk management essential.

Gain insights to strengthen your trading knowledge.

💬 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more market insights every week.

Watch it now and stay updated with FXOpen.

This article represents the opinion of the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand only. It is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation with respect to products and services provided by the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand, nor is it to be considered financial advice.

Cryptography company Succinct has launched Zcam, an iPhone camera app that cryptographically signs photos and videos at the moment of capture to help prove their authenticity.

The company said Thursday that Zcam embeds a tamper-evident record linking media to the device that captured it, allowing viewers to verify that content was not digitally altered or generated by artificial intelligence. 

How the Zcam application works. Source: Succinct

According to Succinct, the app works by hashing raw image data and signing it using keys generated inside Apple’s Secure Enclave, a hardware-based security module. The resulting signature, along with capture metadata and attestation, is embedded into the file using the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) standard, a framework for attaching tamper-evident provenance data to digital media.

Standards such as C2PA are designed to establish the origin and edit history of digital content by embedding signed provenance metadata into files. According to the C2PA, its open technical standard lets publishers, creators and consumers establish the “origin and edits” of digital content. It allows users to record how the content was created, which tools were used and how it changed over time.

Related: Spain seizes crypto cold wallets in illegal manga piracy raid

The launch pushes Succinct’s applied cryptography work beyond blockchain infrastructure and into media provenance, as companies look for ways to authenticate digital content at creation rather than rely only on after-the-fact AI detection tools.

The launch comes as security concerns in crypto increasingly include AI-driven fraud. On Thursday, blockchain security firm CertiK warned that deepfakes, phishing attacks and AI-assisted social engineering are likely to drive some of the largest crypto hacks in 2026. The report highlighted how attackers are using convincing synthetic media to deceive users and bypass security checks. 

Crypto security expands beyond code as AI threats rise

Succinct said Zcam is an early step toward broader adoption of cryptographic provenance tools, which could be used in areas such as journalism, insurance claims and identity verification, where trust in digital media is increasingly critical.

The company acknowledged limitations in its current implementation, noting that the Zcam software development kit is unaudited and not production-ready. It also said secure enclaves have been compromised in the past and that ensuring a fully tamper-proof capture-to-signing process remains an active area of research.

Magazine: AI-driven hacks could kill DeFi — unless projects act now

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Key Takeaways

• Vote stage: Russia’s State Duma passed the crypto regulation bill in its first reading; two additional readings plus Federation Council approval and presidential signature are required before enactment.
• Core legalization: The bill authorizes use of digital assets for cross-border international settlements by Russian businesses – domestic circulation as a payment method remains prohibited.
• Investor tiers: Non-qualified retail investors face a 300,000 ruble ($3,800 USD) annual purchase cap through any single intermediary; qualified investors face no volume restrictions.
• Asset eligibility: Only cryptocurrencies with market caps above 5 trillion rubles ($66.6 billion USD) and a five-year trading history qualify – Bitcoin and Ethereum are the expected first approvals.
• Timeline: Licensed platform trading can begin July 1, 2026; unlicensed platforms face a complete ban effective July 1, 2027.
• Watch item: The State Duma Committee on Protection of Competition has already flagged over-regulation risk – further amendments are expected before final passage.

Key Highlights

• A multibillion-dollar partnership between Meta and Amazon will deliver tens of millions of AWS Graviton CPU cores for AI applications over three to five years.
• The agreement spans multiple years and focuses primarily on U.S.-based infrastructure deployment.
• Premarket trading saw Meta shares increase 0.6% while Amazon stock climbed 1.4% after the announcement.
• This partnership expands Meta’s chip sourcing beyond current suppliers like Nvidia, Broadcom, and AMD.
• Meta now ranks among the top five AWS Graviton customers globally.

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Meta has finalized a multibillion-dollar partnership with Amazon that will provide the social media giant access to tens of millions of Amazon Web Services’ Graviton CPU cores for its artificial intelligence agent initiatives.

According to Nafea Bshara, an Amazon VP who co-founded Annapurna Labs—AWS’s chip development division—the partnership extends from three to five years. The majority of these Graviton processors will be positioned in United States data centers.

Following the announcement, Amazon shares rose 1.4% during premarket hours, while Meta experienced a 0.6% uptick.

Amazon.com, Inc., AMZN

This partnership focuses exclusively on AWS Graviton central processing units rather than graphics processing units. While GPUs dominated AI development attention, CPUs are experiencing renewed relevance.

The emergence of AI agents has restored focus on CPU capabilities. These processors manage particular operations and channel workloads to GPUs, creating a synergistic relationship between both chip categories across diverse AI applications.

CPUs are also critical during the “post-training” stage of large language models, when base models undergo refinement for targeted applications.

Meta selected Amazon’s Graviton5, built on 3-nanometer technology, based on its cost-effectiveness and performance capabilities. “Meta has access to so many options from the supply side. But they chose Graviton5,” Bshara explained.

Expanding Meta’s Chip Ecosystem

This Amazon partnership broadens Meta’s existing chip procurement strategy, which encompasses suppliers such as Nvidia, Broadcom, AMD, and Arm Holdings. Meta has consistently emphasized its commitment to avoiding dependence on a single chip provider.

“No single chip architecture can efficiently serve every computational task,” Meta stated in its official announcement.

Initial rollout will commence with tens of millions of Graviton cores, with infrastructure expansion planned as Meta’s artificial intelligence requirements evolve.

AI Expansion and Workforce Restructuring

Meta’s commitment to artificial intelligence continues to deepen. The company completed its acquisition of AI startup Manus for over $2 billion last December. Manus specializes in developing AI agents for sophisticated operations, creating additional CPU requirements.

To support its AI infrastructure investments, Meta announced Thursday it would reduce its workforce by approximately 10%—eliminating roughly 8,000 positions—effective in May.

Earlier this month, Meta unveiled Muse Spark, its first new AI model in twelve months, with additional releases planned for the coming months.

The collaboration between Meta and AWS traces back to approximately 2016, though previous engagements primarily centered on cloud infrastructure, the Bedrock platform, and GPU cluster access. This agreement represents a substantial shift toward proprietary chip technology.

For AWS, securing Meta as a Graviton client represents significant validation. Just days ago, Amazon revealed a $5 billion commitment to Anthropic, another arrangement involving tens of millions of Graviton CPU cores.

AWS began developing proprietary chips before 2018, launching the original Graviton processor on Arm-based architecture.

Bshara verified that this agreement positions Meta among AWS’s top five Graviton customers worldwide.

The UAE has announced an ambitious two-year roadmap to integrate agentic artificial intelligence into 50% of its government operations. 

According to a report from local news outlets, the UAE aims to shift half of all public sectors, services, and day-to-day processes toward autonomous systems by the transition. Officials say the approach could position the UAE as the first government to operate at such a scale using AI-driven execution.

“AI is no longer a tool. It analyses, decides, executes, and improves in real time. It will become our executive partner to enhance services, accelerate decisions, and raise efficiency,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in an X post.

He added that the rollout will follow a defined schedule. “This transformation has a clear timeline. Two years. Performance across government will be measured by speed of adoption, quality of implementation, and mastery of AI in redesigning government work.”

Training government employees in AI

Authorities plan to roll out the programme in phases across ministries and federal entities, with ongoing performance and impact reviews guiding each stage. The phased structure is intended to support a steady expansion across departments once early deployments show results.

Developing local expertise forms a central part of the plan. Government employees will undergo training to build proficiency in generative AI systems and their real-world applications, ensuring teams can manage and deploy these technologies effectively.

This isn’t a sudden shift, but rather the next step in a digital journey that has been decades in the making. The UAE has already laid the groundwork through eGovernment services and digital identity systems like UAE Pass.

By moving toward autonomous AI, the goal is to shift public services from being reactive to being proactive, where the systems themselves anticipate needs before they even arise.

Zondacrypto’s crisis deepened on Friday after Polish outlet Onet reported that CEO Przemysław Kral had gone to Israel as prosecutors investigate the exchange over alleged fraud and investor losses.

According to the report, Kral has been in Israel for about a week and holds Israeli citizenship, a factor that could complicate any potential extradition to Poland. Polish authorities opened an investigation into Zondacrypto last Friday over alleged fraud and investor losses. Cointelegraph also confirmed that Kral’s email address, previously used to communicate with him, has become unavailable.

The developments come a week after Kral admitted last Thursday that Zondacrypto’s cold wallet holding 4,500 Bitcoin was inaccessible, marking his last publicly known communication at the time of reporting. Polish prosecutors have identified several hundred possible victims and potential losses of at least 350 million Polish zloty (around $97 million), according to Notes from Poland, citing prosecutor spokesperson Michał Binkiewicz.

The case has added pressure to one of Central and Eastern Europe’s biggest crypto platforms, even as Zondacrypto is much smaller in scale than global exchanges such as Binance.

Zondacrypto board resignations add to pressure

The controversy deepened this week amid resignations from the supervisory board of BB Trade Estonia OÜ, the Estonian company that operates the exchange.

In a Monday post on LinkedIn, former board member Georgi Džaniašvili said the board learned about the scale of the Zondacrypto crisis through media reports rather than internally. He also pointed to “material inconsistencies” between public statements and information available to the board.

Source: Georgi Džaniašvili

“In a governance structure where ownership and executive management are concentrated in one individual, effective oversight depends on transparency, timely communication, and mutual trust,” Džaniašvili wrote, adding: “Regrettably, that foundation has been materially undermined.”

Why is the Zondacrypto case being investigated in Poland?

Although Zondacrypto is registered in Estonia, the company has a significant user base and operational presence in Poland, particularly among Polish-speaking users, which has led Polish authorities to open a criminal investigation following complaints from customers in the country.

Zondacrypto was founded in Katowice in 2014 under the name BitBay by Sylwester Suszek, who has been missing since 2022. In public comments last week, Kral said Suszek was responsible for Zondacrypto not having access to its cold wallet.

Source: Przemysław Kral

The issue has become a hot topic in Polish politics, with Prime Minister Donald Tusk claiming links between Zondacrypto and Russian capital and political influence, citing the exchange’s early history and later growth under new management.

In an official communication on April 17, Tusk said up to 30,000 Zondacrypto users may have been affected and compared the case to past financial scandals in Poland.

Related: Europe’s MiCA regime puts smaller crypto firms under pressure

Tusk also said the lack of a comprehensive legal framework for investor protection meant authorities were only able to act later, referring to Poland’s repeated delays in passing legislation aligned with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework.

The case could have broader implications for how the EU approaches crypto supervision under MiCA, with some member states advocating for more centralized oversight rather than national-level enforcement.

Magazine: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.