Two Crypto Bosses Vanish From Same Exchange

The catastrophic implosion of Zondacrypto, once a titan of the Eastern and Central European cryptocurrency market, has cast a dark shadow over the crypto industry.

It has also produced a bizarre true-crime saga: the disappearance of two consecutive chief executives in the span of four years, according to a report by the New York Times.

Going dark

The exchange’s website went completely dark in April. Its proprietary digital token, the ZND, has lost 99.9 percent of its value.

Sylwester Suszek, Zondacrypto’s founder, was born to a coal miner in Katowice, Poland. He then transformed himself into a flashy "crypto king." After launching the exchange under the name BitBay in 2014, he lived large with a fleet of luxury vehicles, including Porsches and a Ferrari.

Due to local regulatory scrutiny, Suszek moved the exchange’s registration to Estonia. Around this time, his sister, Nicole Suszek, noted that he became increasingly paranoid. His fears were justified: an unidentified assailant smashed the windshield of his Ferrari with an ax, which was believed to be a former business partner with alleged mob ties.

In March 2022, Suszek vanished. His last known location was a fuel depot in Czeladz, Poland, where he met with associate Marian Wszolek.