Share this article
Czech Government Survives No-Confidence Vote Over $45M Bitcoin Donation
Lawmakers rejected an attempt to oust Prime Minister Fiala after a controversial $45M bitcoin donation to the state was accepted.
Jun 21, 2025, 6:13 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
What to know:
- The Czech government survived a no-confidence vote triggered by a $45 million bitcoin payment from a convicted criminal.
- The payment, 468 bitcoin, was accepted by the then-Justice Minister on behalf of the government.
- Opposition party ANO is favored to win the October parliamentary election, with a 92% perceived odds of winning.
The Czech government has weathered a political storm this week, surviving a no-confidence vote triggered by a $45 million bitcoin payment from a convicted criminal.
The scandal has rocked Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s administration months before national elections, Reuters reports.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The payment of 468 bitcoin was made to the state by a man previously jailed for running a darknet drug marketplace called Sheep Marketplace.
The donation was accepted by then-Justice Minister Pavel Blazek, who later resigned amid the backlash, on behalf of the government. The bitcoin was sold for roughly 1 billion Czech koruna, worth around $45 million.
Opposition party ANO, which leads polls ahead of the October vote, filed a no-confidence motion and accused the ruling coalition of potentially aiding in the laundering of illicit assets, as the source of the BTC is unclear.
Critics say the government should have involved prosecutors or police instead of accepting potentially tainted crypto funds. After two days of debate, the motion failed in the lower house, where Fiala's coalition retains a majority.
Still, Blazek insisted he acted legally in accepting the donation, which amounted to about 30% of crypto found on the man's returned devices.
The donor’s motives remain unclear. The case shook the government of a country whose central bank earlier this year approved a proposal to study bitcoin as a reserve asset. Czech National Bank chief Ales Michl has even said bitcoin is not to be “lumped together” with crypto.
Polymarket traders are currently seeing the main opposition party, ANO, win the parliamentary election in October. Perceived odds of that outcome are currently at 92%, while Blazek’s ODS party’s chances stand at just 6%.
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
Більше для вас
Stablecoins moved $35 trillion last year but only 1% of it was for 'real world' payments
While stablecoins settled around $35 trillion last year, only around 1% of that represented genuine payments like remittances and payroll, a new report found.
Що варто знати:
- Stablecoins processed more than $35 trillion in transactions last year, but only about 1% of that reflected real-world payments, a report by McKinsey and Artemis Analytics found.
- The study estimated that roughly $390 billion in genuine stablecoin payments, such as vendor payments, payrolls, remittances and capital markets settlements.
- Despite rapid growth and increasing interest from traditional payment firms like Visa and Stripe, true stablecoin payments still account for just a tiny fraction of the more than $2 quadrillion global payments market, the report said.
Top Stories
