Polish prosecutors have reportedly charged Przemysław Kral, the head of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto, in connection with an alleged large-scale fraud, and he has started cooperating with investigators, according to reporting from Onet.

Onet says Kral is seeking a reduced sentence in exchange for testimony that could include details about how Zondacrypto funding was linked to right-wing political figures in Poland. Prosecutors estimate that Zondacrypto customers lost at least 2.4 billion Polish zlotys (about $650 million), and investigators allege that only part of customer funds was used to buy crypto, while the remainder was moved to private accounts controlled by exchange managers.

Key takeaways

• Przemysław Kral of Zondacrypto has reportedly been charged and is cooperating with Polish prosecutors.
• Prosecutors estimate customer losses at least 2.4 billion zlotys (about $650 million).
• Investigators allege Zondacrypto used only a portion of customer funds to purchase crypto and diverted the rest to private accounts.
• Kral is reportedly trying to secure a reduced sentence through testimony, potentially touching on alleged exchange-related political funding.
• Earlier public statements included a claim that Zondacrypto could not access a cold wallet holding roughly 4,500 Bitcoin.

Cooperation talks and the alleged damage

Onet reports that prosecutors estimate Zondacrypto customers lost at least 2.4 billion zlotys. The outlet also states investigators believe the exchange did not preserve customer money in full, but instead used only part of customers’ funds to buy cryptocurrency, with additional amounts allegedly transferred to private accounts under the control of Zondacrypto’s managers.

According to Onet, Kral began exploring cooperation conditions weeks ahead of the reported charge outcome. The outlet previously reported that he had been negotiating the terms of possible collaboration with prosecutors for about six months.

That reporting also described informal meetings between Kral and prosecutors in Poland as well as in locations including Sicily and parts of the Persian Gulf, where discussions reportedly focused on the structure of a potential deal.

Allegations tied to political connections

In the newest Onet report, the outlet says Kral is seeking a lighter sentence by offering testimony that could include details about alleged Zondacrypto involvement with funding right-wing politicians.

The political angle is not new to the Zondacrypto case. Onet previously reported that Zondacrypto had acted as a key sponsor of Poland’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) shortly before the second round of the presidential election, which was won by Karol Nawrocki.

Onet also notes that in its final year, Zondacrypto spent 37 million zlotys on advertising with broadcaster Telewizja Republika. The outlet further claims that companies owned by Kral made payments to foundations linked to politicians Zbigniew Ziobro and Przemysław Wipler.

What Kral said earlier about the missing Bitcoin

Since mid-April, Kral has remained publicly silent on X after disclosing that Zondacrypto was unable to access a cold wallet reportedly holding about 4,500 Bitcoin. Earlier coverage from Cointelegraph noted the wallet access issue and described the resulting withdrawal crisis.

Kral has denied accusations of misappropriating customer funds. He said the private keys for the wallet were intended to have been transferred by Zondacrypto founder and former CEO Sylwester Suszek, who has been missing since 2022.

That explanation has been central to how the case has been discussed publicly: rather than conceding fund loss, Kral pointed to an alleged custody and key-transfer failure involving Suszek. Prosecutors’ latest estimates and alleged diversion of funds, as described by Onet, suggest investigators view that narrative differently.

Unanswered questions as the probe expands

As the case moves into the cooperation phase, several issues remain unclear based on the available reporting. Onet’s claims focus on the scale of customer losses and the alleged path of diverted funds, but they do not establish in detail how investigators quantify losses or reconcile them with any remaining assets, including the purported cold wallet.

Cointelegraph reported that it was unable to reach Kral or Zondacrypto for comment. The outlet said email addresses connected to the exchange were unavailable after Kral’s April disclosure about the wallet access problem.

For investors and market participants, the Zondacrypto situation underscores a persistent pattern seen in major exchange collapses: customer assets may be at risk not only through outright theft, but also through custody failures, opaque internal controls, and use of funds in ways that do not align with client expectations. The investigation’s alleged findings—customers’ funds being partially used for purchases while the rest allegedly moved to private accounts—highlight why transparency around wallet management and auditability matters, especially in jurisdictions where recovery and enforcement can take time.

Readers should watch next for what Kral’s cooperation ultimately produces in court filings—particularly whether testimony about alleged political funding is corroborated by evidence and how prosecutors account for the missing Bitcoin and any other recoverable funds. The case also raises broader questions about how regulators and law enforcement will evaluate the relationship between exchange operations, third-party entities, and political influence when rebuilding trust after a collapse.

Bitcoin (BTC) passed $80,000 after Monday’s Wall Street open as bulls built on last week’s snap BTC price rally.

Key points:

• Bitcoin hits $80,000 for the first time since mid-May as bullish momentum gathered pace.
• BTC price analysis warns that the market still needs to sustain higher levels to challenge the bear-market thesis.

Bitcoin returns to $80,000 after 100-day hiatus

Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD passing the $80,000 for the first time since May 15, up another 3% on the day before pulling back following the European close.

Source: TradingView

The move spurred an uptick in crypto short liquidations, with these passing $220 million over the 24 hours to the time of writing, per data from CoinGlass. A band of bid liquidity centered on $76,700, potentially offering support in the event of a downward BTC price reversal.

BTC liquidation heatmap. Source: CoinGlass

Analyst: BTC rebound must prove staying power

Bitcoin was up 25% month-to-date, seeing its best August performance since 2017 and increasingly diverging from bear-market norms. Earlier, Cointelegraph reported on concerns among some traders that bearish history could still repeat, with downside reemerging from September onward to spark a final capitulation to new macro lows. 

Related: BTC price loses 200-week trend line as 2022 repeats: Five things to know in Bitcoin this week

“Bitcoin has Weekly Closed at the highs. Now starts the real test,” trader and analyst Rekt Capital wrote in his latest market commentary on X.

“If this is a Bear Market Relief Rally, then Bitcoin could pullback as early as this week, or at least over the next few weeks. Now it’s all about Bitcoin proving sustained strength.”

Rekt Capital had eyed the 50-week exponential moving average in particular, currently at $77,251, as price achieved its first weekly close above it since November 2025. During Bitcoin’s 2022 bear market, BTC/USD achieved two weekly closes above that trend line before dropping to cycle lows.

Magazine: Bitget CEO isn’t buying the Bitcoin rally — She’s waiting for $50K

This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research.

Strive Asset Management has made its latest Bitcoin purchase, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Nasdaq-listed company bought 1,110 BTC during the week of Aug. 17 through Aug. 21, spending about $81.5 million in total and bringing its Bitcoin treasury to 21,356 BTC.

The purchase price averaged $73,409 per Bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses, based on the company’s disclosures. As of the same period, Strive reported that its cash and cash equivalents increased by $17.1 million to $171.9 million, while its Class A shares outstanding rose by 3.65 million to 79.89 million.

Key takeaways

• Strive purchased 1,110 BTC for about $81.5 million between Aug. 17 and Aug. 21, per its SEC filing.
• The average all-in cost was $73,409 per Bitcoin, with Strive adding to a total holding of 21,356 BTC.
• Bitcoin was trading around $79,000 on Monday, roughly 8% above Strive’s reported average purchase price for the latest buys.
• Company data cited by BitcoinTreasuries.NET places Strive among the largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin holders.
• Separately, Strive’s SATA preferred stock returned to its $99-to-$101 trading corridor after dipping earlier in June.

Another corporate Bitcoin buy—and what the pricing implies

In the SEC filing, Strive details how it executed the most recent tranche of Bitcoin purchases. The company’s average cost—$73,409 per BTC including fees and expenses—was below the approximate $79,000 level at which Bitcoin traded on Monday, according to the article’s market reference. That gap suggests Strive acquired the latest Bitcoin inventory at a discount relative to the spot price at the start of the following trading day, though investors will be watching how the treasury’s realized cost basis compares as new purchases continue.

The timing also matters for corporate-holding strategies that aim to maintain a consistent allocation rather than attempt precise market timing. Strive’s cash position, which rose to $171.9 million, indicates it had room to continue deploying capital into its treasury approach during the covered week. At the same time, growth in Class A shares outstanding to 79.89 million points to ongoing corporate balance sheet activity beyond the Bitcoin buy itself.

BitcoinTreasuries.NET data, cited alongside the filing, ranks Strive as the seventh-largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin holder, positioning it behind Bullish and ahead of SpaceX. For traders, that kind of ranking can be more than trivia: it can influence investor perception around liquidity, follow-on demand, and how visible corporate BTC strategies are to the broader market.

Strive links the strategy to “scarcity” and share structure

Alongside the purchase news, Strive’s CEO Matt Cole framed the company’s broader thesis in terms of relative scarcity and how Strive’s share structure is intended to participate. In a post on X ahead of Monday’s market open, Cole said the “upside” is not only tied to Bitcoin moving higher, but to Bitcoin “becoming the fastest horse inside an expanding scarcity trade,” adding that $ASST is “structured to amplify” that outcome while remaining “responsibly” supported.

This is essentially an investor-facing explanation of why the treasury strategy is paired with the company’s capital structure. Investors should treat such statements as strategic framing—not performance guarantees—while monitoring how the firm actually funds purchases and how its market-linked products behave during BTC volatility.

Beyond Bitcoin: SATA preferred stock returns to its target range

While the Bitcoin purchase grabbed attention, Strive’s other major development was movement in its SATA preferred stock. The filing context notes that SATA closed at $100.01 on Friday, returning to a management targeted trading range of $99 to $101 after trading as low as $83.30 in late June.

According to the article, Strive previously narrowed SATA’s targeted corridor from $95–$105 to $99–$101 in March. Around that time, the company also stated it would not issue SATA through at-the-market or follow-on offerings below $100, a commitment that is designed to limit dilution at prices the company considers off-target.

SATA was launched in November 2025, initially selling 2 million shares at $80 each for $160 million in gross proceeds. The preferred stock is described as variable-rate and perpetual, with a stated amount and an initial liquidation preference of $100 per share—key features that differentiate it from Strive’s common equity.

Functionally, SATA is intended to operate as an income-focused instrument. The variable dividend rate is meant to encourage trading near $100, and the article notes Strive raised the annualized dividend rate to 13% in April. It also switched from monthly to daily dividend payments beginning June 16, referencing an SEC filing for the change in payment schedule.

How SATA compares to Strategy’s STRC

SATA is presented as similar to STRC, the variable-rate perpetual preferred stock issued by Strategy, which is widely regarded as the largest corporate Bitcoin holder. The article states STRC traded near $97 on Monday, below Strategy’s $100 target, while Strategy reported no Bitcoin purchases for the week ended Aug. 23.

For market participants, this comparison is useful because both SATA and STRC are designed to tie investor outcomes to corporate Bitcoin holdings while using dividend mechanics to influence preferred-share pricing. If Strategy is paused on new purchases while Strive is actively adding BTC, the relative behavior of their preferred instruments could become a proxy for how markets are weighing treasury accumulation versus dividend/rate adjustments.

However, investors should be careful not to assume one day’s price action directly reflects the treasury’s longer-term economics. Preferred stocks can respond to yield expectations, liquidity, and broader risk sentiment, and variable-rate structures can shift quickly as dividend calculations change.

Next, readers should watch whether Strive continues its steady cadence of Bitcoin purchases and how that activity filters into the market’s expectations for both ASST and its preferred share suite. The sustainability of SATA staying near the $100 corridor will also be important, especially if Bitcoin volatility increases or if Strive’s treasury strategy funds new buys alongside changes in dividends and share issuance.

Bitcoin has recovered above $79,000 after briefly falling toward $78,200 as President Donald Trump threatened 50% tariffs on Canadian vehicles, automotive parts and steel from Jan. 1, 2027.

Trump tariffs target Canadian vehicles and steel

A Truth Social post published by Trump on Aug. 24 said the United States would raise tariffs on all Canadian cars, trucks, automotive parts and steel to 50% at the start of 2027.

“Build in the U.S. and there are ZERO TARIFFS,” Trump wrote before criticizing Canada’s approach to trade with the United States.

The announcement followed the collapse of negotiations between Washington and Ottawa on Aug. 21. According to Reuters, the proposed agreement would have reduced the main U.S. tariff on Canadian cars and light trucks from 25% to 15%. Duties on Canadian aluminum and steel would also have fallen from 50% to 25%.

Negotiators did not resolve several points, including whether tariff relief would cover medium- and heavy-duty trucks. With no agreement in place, Trump increased the pressure on Ottawa through his latest tariff threat.

Canada, for its part, plans to impose retaliatory tariffs on selected U.S. products from Sept. 8 in response to existing 50% U.S. duties on about $20 billion of Canadian goods. Prime Minister Mark Carney described the dispute as a trade war after the talks failed.

“You’re at war when you get attacked,” Carney said on Aug. 22.

Trump also claimed Canada conducts 95% of its business with the United States, although official trade figures cited by Reuters show Canada sends more than three-quarters of its goods exports to the U.S. and receives almost half of its goods imports from its southern neighbor.

U.S. goods and services trade with Canada totaled $872.3 billion in 2025, making the country one of America’s two largest trading partners. The high level of integration means parts can cross the border several times before a finished vehicle reaches a dealership.

Bitcoin price has recovered from its tariff-driven dip

Bitcoin initially moved lower after Trump published the tariff announcement, falling from above $79,000 to around $78,200. Buyers soon absorbed the decline, helping BTC return above the psychological $79,000 level.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin traded near $79,300, up more than 2% over the previous 24 hours. The cryptocurrency also came within roughly $500 of the $80,000 level after reaching an intraday high close to $79,900.

The limited reaction contrasts with Bitcoin’s behavior during earlier tariff disputes. In February, BTC lost the $65,000 support level as new U.S. global duties approached, while the total crypto market value fell as traders reduced exposure to risk assets. Earlier crypto.news coverage of that decline recorded a roughly 5% Bitcoin drop from a previous high of $66,465.

Monday’s price move has been smaller because Bitcoin entered the announcement with strong upward momentum. BTC climbed from about $62,679 on Aug. 17 to a three-month high near $79,500 on Aug. 21, adding almost 27% between the weekly low and high.

After pulling back toward $76,600 over the weekend, the asset resumed its advance on Aug. 24. The latest tariff news briefly interrupted that recovery but did not erase the day’s gain.

Treasury buybacks have supported Bitcoin’s rally

Behind Bitcoin’s recent advance, the U.S. Treasury has expanded its liquidity-support buybacks for longer-dated government securities. The department raised the maximum size of each operation from $2 billion to at least $4 billion for bonds in the 10-to-20-year and 20-to-30-year maturity ranges.

Scheduled to take effect on Sept. 9, the revised program will also increase the number of long-end operations from two to four per quarter through Nov. 4. No money has been deployed under the expanded schedule yet.

The announcement prompted a rapid repricing in the bond market. The 30-year Treasury yield fell from a 19-year high of about 5.34% to 5.19%, while the 10-year yield declined to around 4.65%.

As earlier buyback coverage detailed, Bitcoin jumped 8.2% from an intraday low near $64,100 to $69,500 in less than 12 hours after the Treasury disclosed the change. About $1.44 billion in short positions was liquidated across major crypto exchanges during the move, including $1.29 billion within one hour.

The buyback program does not amount to Federal Reserve quantitative easing. The Treasury purchases older and less liquid bonds using proceeds from newly issued debt, changing the composition of government liabilities without reducing the total federal debt stock.

Continued demand through regulated U.S. investment products has provided another source of buying. Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds attracted approximately $1.92 billion across five sessions during the latest rally.

On Aug. 20 alone, the funds recorded about $606 million in net inflows after drawing roughly $517 million during the previous session. BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for a large portion of the demand, while the combined assets held by U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs rose above $90 billion.

Canadian tariffs carry risks for U.S. prices

For American consumers and investors, the proposed duties could affect vehicle prices and the earnings of automakers with supply chains spanning the U.S.-Canada border. Canadian plants supply engines, transmissions and other components to assembly facilities in the United States, while U.S.-made parts also move north for vehicle production.

Flavio Volpe, president of Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, told Reuters that U.S. assembly plants depend on specific Canadian components and could face production stoppages if the tariff threat disrupts their supply.

Auto industry executives also questioned whether the 50% rate would take effect as announced, noting that Trump has previously withdrawn or revised tariff threats during negotiations. More than four months remain before the planned Jan. 1 implementation date, leaving time for Washington and Ottawa to restart discussions.

Canada’s retaliatory measures are scheduled to begin sooner. Starting Sept. 8, Ottawa plans to apply duties to selected American products in response to tariffs already ordered by the Trump administration, while the White House has not released the detailed rules governing the proposed 2027 automotive levies.

Ethereum developer Eric Conner has proposed a common status interface for tokenized assets, as onchain stocks trade continuously while the New York Stock Exchange opens for only 32.5 hours each week.

ERC-8392 separates market closures from feed failures

EthHub founder Eric Conner introduced the proposal in an Aug. 24 X post, describing it as an asset status interface for tokenized stocks and real-world assets.

Conner referred to the proposal as ERC-8391 in the post. However, the subsequent Ethereum Magicians discussion and associated draft identify it as ERC-8392, titled “Asset Status Interface for Tokenized Assets.”

The proposal addresses a mismatch between continuous blockchain activity and the limited operating hours of traditional markets. Tokenized stocks can move between wallets or trade through smart contracts at any hour, while their reference shares may not be trading on an exchange.

During a weekend, for example, the latest available stock price may be several hours old because the market is closed. A similar onchain price could also result from an oracle failure, a trading halt, or a corporate event that occurred while the exchange was shut.

Although the price data may look identical in each case, Conner said smart contracts should respond differently. A lending protocol might tolerate an old price during a scheduled closure but suspend liquidations when a data provider has failed.

“Both produce identical bytes onchain. The correct response is opposite,” Conner wrote.

Price feeds alone also cannot show whether the reference stock is under a price restriction, whether the issuer has paused a token program, or whether holders can currently redeem their tokens. ERC-8392 proposes separate queries for each form of operational information.

Tokenized stocks would expose four status categories

At the center of the draft is IAssetStatus, a required interface covering the token program’s lifecycle and operational condition. Three optional extensions would supply information about the reference market, valuation feed, and primary issuance or redemption process.

The market-status extension would identify whether the reference venue is in regular trading, an extended session, an auction, or a closed period. A separate field would report interruptions such as an asset-level halt, venue-wide halt, or price constraint.

For assets tied to listed shares, the proposal also includes a market identifier based on the ISO 10383 Market Identifier Code. Integrators could use the code to compare a reported status with a public exchange calendar.

A valuation-status query would separate an expected lack of updates from a genuine delay. During a normal weekend closure, the interface could report that no new price is due. If an oracle misses an update during an active session, the same interface could show that the valuation has become delayed or unavailable.

Issuance and redemption receive a separate status because a valid market price does not guarantee that investors can create or redeem the token. Funds may operate with net asset value cutoffs, while issuers can set defined subscription periods or temporarily stop redemptions.

Each status category includes an UNKNOWN value. According to the draft, making unknown the default prevents empty storage in a newly deployed or upgraded contract from being interpreted as a healthy operating state.

The proposed views would not depend on the caller and would not revert. Conner also excluded required events because scheduled market sessions can change with the clock even when no blockchain transaction occurs.

ERC-8392 provides information rather than a safety verdict

ERC-8392 does not instruct applications to buy, sell, liquidate, or freeze an asset. Instead, the interface standardizes the questions that a contract can ask, leaving each application to set its own response.

A lending market could reduce loan-to-value limits when a reference exchange closes, while another protocol might continue operating if it has enough liquidity and other pricing sources. Wallets could present a warning when a valuation is delayed or redemption is unavailable.

Conner said the status information would remain advisory because the interface cannot guarantee that an issuer or oracle has supplied correct data. Oracles could report the relevant conditions, and token contracts would return the status through a common format.

Existing products currently use different methods. According to the proposal, Ondo provides an offchain status interface, Robinhood Chain tokens use a proprietary oraclePaused() query, and several other assets expose only a general paused() function. Lending markets must therefore build separate handling rules for each listing.

ERC-8392 has been designed to work alongside other token standards. The draft leaves stock splits to ERC-8056 and transfer restrictions to ERC-7943 or ERC-3643. Merger and spinoff economics are also outside its scope, although their operational effects could appear through a halt or other status update.

Early feedback on Ethereum Magicians has raised questions about historical data and settlement. One respondent working from a lending perspective said status events could help protocols measure how often an asset was halted or its valuation was delayed. The respondent also proposed a status digest that applications could verify at settlement if conditions changed after an earlier check.

Conner has requested feedback from issuers, lending-market teams, and market-structure specialists. The draft has been reviewed on paper against conditions including Hong Kong lunch breaks, German exchange interruptions, London auctions, Gulf trading weeks and price limits in mainland China, but it has not reached final status.

Tokenized stock growth raises the need for common controls

The proposal has arrived as tokenized equity activity expands across several blockchain networks. As crypto.news reported on Aug. 21, combined tokenized-stock trading through Uniswap on Robinhood Chain reached $1 billion.

Robinhood launched 95 Stock Tokens for eligible customers in more than 120 countries, with instruments tracking companies such as Nvidia, Apple, and Alphabet. The products remain unavailable in the United States, and Robinhood describes them as debt securities that track referenced shares rather than direct ownership of the underlying stock.

Separate Token Terminal figures cited in an Aug. 15 report placed the tokenized stock market at about $2.7 billion, up from roughly $80 million one year earlier. Ondo held the largest issuer position, while Binance’s bStocks and Kraken-backed xStocks each accounted for more than $600 million.

Continuous trading can expose investors and lending systems to prices set while the underlying U.S. exchanges are closed. Under Conner’s proposal, applications could check whether an equity reference market is open before accepting a token as collateral, processing a liquidation, or displaying a valuation.

For U.S. investors, a technical status interface would not change the legal treatment of a tokenized security. The Securities and Exchange Commission says issuer-sponsored, custodial, and synthetic tokenized securities can carry different ownership rights, while tokenized securities remain subject to federal securities laws.

Legal ownership may also depend on records maintained outside the token contract. An Aug. 20 report found that an Injective affiliate had secured SEC transfer agent registration, allowing it to maintain securities ownership records, process ownership changes and support distributions and corporate actions.

The ERC-8392 draft remains open for technical review, and Conner said a reference implementation with a Foundry test suite is still being prepared for the proposal.