Czech Republic’s Minister of Finance, Zbyněk Stanjura, has refused to resign in response to calls from the opposition to share responsibility over a controversial Bitcoin donation that already cost his colleague Pavel Blažek the post of Minister of Justice.
A parliamentary session devoted to the politically damaging incident was adjourned without completing the debate. Opponents of the government have threatened a no-confidence vote and urged for Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s resignation, too.
Finance Ministry has nothing to do with Blažek’s Bitcoin, says Stanjura
The Czech Republic was rattled by an unprecedented scandal, charged enough to bring down the cabinet of the center-right SPOLU (“Together”) coalition, or at the very least negatively affect its chances in the upcoming elections in October.
Justice Minister Pavel Blažek was forced to quit his seat over his key role in the case. It was revealed that his department had accepted 1 billion koruna ($45 million) in cryptocurrency as a donation from a former darknet market operator and convicted drug dealer, Tomáš Jiřikovský.
Another member of the government in Prague, Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura, has now rejected calls for his resignation. Quoted by the Czech news agency CTK, he emphasized he had not violated the law and insisted that the Ministry of Justice was responsible for handling the gifted Bitcoin.
On Thursday, Stanjura took to X to explain his take on Blažek’s embarrassing move, stressing that his own department was not involved in the decision to accept the crypto.
Kauzu bitcoin vnímám jako selhání ministra Blažka a jeho úřadu. A znovu opakuji, že @MinFinCZ s celým procesem ani rozhodnutím @SpravedlnostCZ přijmout miliardu od drogového dealera nemělo nic společného – a ani nemá žádnou pravomoc takové kroky jiného resortu schvalovat nebo…
— Zbyněk Stanjura (@Zbynek_Stanjura) June 5, 2025
However, commenting for Czech media, the finance minister admitted he knew about Blažek’s intentions to take the coins, claiming he tried to convince him not to do it. Speaking to the Seznam Zprávy news website, Stanjura stated he “saw the potential political problem” but could not prevent it.
In an address to lawmakers earlier this week, Czech President Petr Pavel also described the scandal as a “major problem” which tarnishes the country’s reputation abroad.
According to a report by the public radio broadcaster Český Rozhlas (ČRo), the Ministry of Justice has already sold part of the donated crypto assets in auctions held between March and May this year, the first such sale conducted by a public body in the country.
Czech parliament holds extraordinary session over controversial crypto donation
On Thursday, the Bitcoin scandal hit the floor of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Czechia’s parliament, but the prolonged debate, abundant with political statements and clashes, produced little results. Attempts to continue the extraordinary session on Friday failed and it’s unclear when it will resume.
Political forces challenging the government, including the largest opposition party, the right-wing populist ANO (“Yes”), called for the resignation of the whole Fiala cabinet. Led by former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, ANO has already gathered enough signatures to initiate a vote of no confidence.
Both the current head of government and his outgoing justice minister acknowledged that taking the Bitcoin was a “mistake.” Petr Fiala said accepting the donation without verification was “at least ethically problematic,” while Pavel Blazek apologized but rejected accusations of corruption.
This wasn’t enough for the opposition and the Mayors and Independents (STAN) faction demanded that the incoming Minister of Justice Eva Decroix, from Fiala’s Civic Democratic Party (ODS), describe in detail how the cryptocurrency was transferred to the state and identify all responsible persons.
Meanwhile, the Czech Cryptocurrency Association took the opportunity to slam the government for the misstep. It said in a statement that by accepting the coins, “the state failed to comply with the basic requirements that any entity subject to the European MiCA regulation or the Anti-Money Laundering Act must follow.”
Czech authorities neglected all precautionary measures that should apply to donations of any size, such as identifying the donor and their motives, establishing the origin of the funds as well as assessing the potential risk of links to crime, the industry organization stressed.