Key Takeaways
- Sylwester Suszek founded BitBay, the Polish crypto exchange later renamed ZondaCrypto.
- Police are searching the fuel depot where he was last seen before vanishing in March 2022.
- A suspect in the wider investigation was previously accused of removing the hard drive from a fuel station’s surveillance recorder.
Polish police are searching the fuel depot where Sylwester Suszek, founder of crypto exchange BitBay, was last seen before he vanished more than four years ago.
Suszek mysteriously vanished in Poland under unresolved circumstances in March 2022.
How Did the BitBay Crypto Exchange Founder Disappear?
Suszek founded BitBay as a platform for buying and selling crypto in 2014.
On March 10, 2022, Suszek drove to a fuel company’s property in southern Poland.
His Porsche remained there, but he did not return. His phone stopped connecting to the network that afternoon, according to Polish Radio’s account of reporting by Gazeta Wyborcza.
For years, the disappearance and allegations concerning BitBay’s successor, ZondaCrypto, were investigated separately.
Prosecutors combined the cases in July 2026, saying that how the exchange was founded and operated could help them determine what happened to Suszek.
Surveillance Footage
The new search has brought investigators back to Suszek’s last reported location.
An earlier prosecution update revealed that a suspect identified as Anna P. was charged with obstructing the investigation for allegedly removing a hard drive from a fuel station’s surveillance recorder.
Prosecutors also accused her of encouraging false testimony.
She denied the charges.
Who Has Been Charged in the Wider Investigation?
Cybercrime officers arrested a man identified as Artur K. on Sept. 22.
Prosecutors charged him with participation in an organized criminal group and alleged financial offenses involving companies connected to the crypto exchange.
The allegations include causing substantial financial damage to Bit Bay, BB Trade Estonia, and another entity, as well as assisting the misappropriation of entrusted assets, according to the prosecutor’s statement.
A court later ordered Artur K. to be held for three months pending trial, Polish media reported.
Artur K. denies the allegations.
Crypto Holders Face a Growing Physical Threat
The renewed search comes amid concern over “wrench attacks”—robberies, kidnappings and other physical attempts to force people to surrender crypto.
Bitcoin security researcher Jameson Lopp’s incident map records 68 publicly known cases in France, 59 in the US, and 24 in the UK since 2014.
In April, four intruders allegedly tied up former BCB Group chief executive Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie and his family at their Maidenhead home and demanded access to a crypto wallet.
Von Landsberg-Sadie told The Sun that the attackers had specifically sought crypto.
The rise is especially pronounced in France, with Chainalysis counting an average of 4.6 known attacks per month there in the first half of 2026, up from 1.9 per month in 2025.
More than 40% of the French incidents analyzed targeted a relative or associate rather than the crypto holder directly.
Of course, none of this establishes what happened to Suszek. He vanished in 2022, and Polish prosecutors have not confirmed that someone tried to steal his crypto.
Their investigation continues to examine whether BitBay’s founding and operations can help explain his disappearance.
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Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
