Bitcoin News
By Dan Saada
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185 Million Zloty and 5,000 Clients Left Holding Nothing. The numbers keep getting worse. Customer losses tied to Cinkciarz.
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492 Bitcoins and a Combative Defense. One of the stranger threads in the investigation is the cryptocurrency angle.
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Extradition Fight Could Drag On. Getting Pióro back to Poland isn't automatic. His legal team can contest the extradition request,…
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Marcin Pióro is in custody. The CEO of Polish fintech Cinkciarz.pl was detained in the United States, ending what had become a lengthy international manhunt tied to one of…
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Polish prosecutors confirmed the arrest publicly, and the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Poznań put its name to the announcement. The U.S.
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The numbers keep getting worse. Customer losses tied to Cinkciarz.pl's failure have now crossed 185 million zloty — up sharply from an earlier estimate of 112 million zloty.
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The trouble started becoming visible in October 2024, when Poland's Financial Supervision Authority revoked the payment services license of Conotoxia — a subsidiary tied to…
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Cinkciarz.pl wasn't some fly-by-night operation. Founded in 2006, it built a real reputation as a prominent online currency exchange across Central Europe.
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One of the stranger threads in the investigation is the cryptocurrency angle. Polish investigators allege that Pióro held approximately 492 bitcoins — a significant stash that…
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Pióro didn't go quietly before his arrest. He maintained his innocence throughout and publicly pushed back against Polish prosecutors, pursuing legal actions against banks and…
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Related: SEC Freezes Prediction Market ETF Reviews as Bitwise, Roundhill, GraniteShares Wait
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If convicted on the fraud and money laundering charges, Pióro faces up to 25 years in prison.
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He's not the only one in legal trouble. Former board member Robert Górny was detained in early 2025. Chief accountant Monika J. faced arrest mid-year.
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Getting Pióro back to Poland isn't automatic. His legal team can contest the extradition request, and in international cases like this, that kind of challenge is pretty common.
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Meanwhile, the broader fallout from the bankruptcy grinds on. Thousands of creditors are navigating a legal process that's slow by nature.
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