The Czech coalition government survived the no-confidence vote on Wednesday, with fewer than half of the parliamentarians voting ‘aye’. This all began with a Bitcoin scandal.
After two days of discussions in the Czech lower house of Parliament, 94 officials from the opposition party voted in favor of forcing out the government, the AP reported. However, for that to happen, the opposition needed 101 out of the 200 seats.
Source: Czech Republic Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Twitter
Notably, this is not the first such motion over the past four years. It’s the fourth since this four-party coalition government took leadership.
Moreover, the next parliamentary election is set for early October, with the opposition likely to win.
Earlier this year, Justice Minister Pavel Blažek accepted a large donation in BTC, which he sold for about $45.8 million in March. In May, the opposition raised concerns over the source of the donation, and by the end of the month, Blažek resigned.
The main opposition centrist ANO (YES) movement, with billionaire Andrej Babiš at the helm, requested a vote of no-confidence, looking to oust the current government.
Subsequently, Eva Decroix, deputy chair of the Civic Democratic Party, has been appointed as the country’s new Minister of Justice.
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Opposition Calls for Czech Govt to Resign, Minister Steps Down Over $46M in BTC ‘Donated’ from Convicted Criminal
The Czech Republic has been shaken by a Bitcoin scandal. On Friday, Justice Minister Pavel Blažek resigned, with the opposition set to demand the resignation of the coalition government this week as well. The situation caught on fire at the end of last week after Blažek, a conservative politician, accepted a large donation in BTC and sold it for about $45.8 million in March, the AP reported. The opposition has raised concerns over the source of the donation. Blažek received the coins...
So, How is BTC Involved?
In March 2025, a lawyer representing Tomas Jirikovsky, a convicted criminal, reportedly approached Blažek, saying that the client would donate 30% of his BTC stash to the ministry.
Before his arrest, Jirikovsky had operated the Sheep Marketplace. In 2017, he went to prison for embezzlement, drug trafficking, and illegal trading of weapons. Police confiscated his wallet containing BTC but returned it after his release in 2021.
The opposition party raised concerns over the origin of this donated BTC, since Blažek did not do any checks. But Blažek denied knowledge of wrongdoing. “I have no way to investigate the matter, and I wasn’t interested so many years after the case,” he said. Blažek also claimed that courts had not proven that the BTC came from criminal activity.
During the trial, the court suspected that the coins came from Nucleus, a dark web marketplace that reportedly shut its doors the day after Jirikovsky’s arrest.
Furthermore, BTC market monitors noted that a portion of the Nucleus-linked BTC, dormant since 2016, moved to new wallets in March.
Jirikovsky claimed that he got to keep the BTC because he had obtained it legally. Blažek claimed he hadn’t made any promises in return for the donation.
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Czech Republic Appoints New Minister Following $45M Bitcoin Scandal
Czech Republic Prime Minister Petr Fiala on Tuesday appointed Eva Decroix as the country’s new justice minister, replacing Pavel Blažek after a weeks-long controversy over a $45m Bitcoin donation from a convicted criminal. The move follows a growing political storm surrounding Blažek, who accepted a Bitcoin payment on behalf of the state from Tomáš Jirčovský, a man previously jailed for running the now-defunct Silk Road-style platform Sheep Marketplace. Jirčovský was convicted in 2017...
The post 7 Votes Saved Czech Government from Being Ousted Over Bitcoin-Related Scandal appeared first on Cryptonews.
