ANO will continue to push for finance minister’s resignation over bitcoin scandal

The opposition ANO party has said it will continue to push for the resignation of Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura, even after the ruling coalition survived a no-confidence vote in the lower house over the bitcoin scandal that has shaken the government in its foundations.

The no-confidence motion was initiated by ANO following revelations that the Justice Ministry had accepted a cryptocurrency donation from a man convicted of drug trafficking, illegal arms possession and embezzlement.

Although Justice Minister Pavel Blažek has stepped down, ANO claims that the key figure in the affair is Stanjura, who, according to the opposition, should have notified the Financial Analytical Office and called for a meeting of the National Security Council as soon as he learned about the donation.

Babiš cited a parallel case in Germany, where authorities seized Bitcoin worth CZK 65 billion, arguing that it is incorrect to claim that the Czech state had no means of recovering or managing the digital currency.