From "king of crypto" to mysterious disappearance: Who is Sylwester Suszek?

Sylwester Suszek, once hailed as Poland's "king of crypto" and the founder of BitBay, one of the country's pioneering cryptocurrency exchanges, has been missing since March 10, 2022. Born in 1989 in Katowice, Suszek grew up in Piekary Śląskie and pursued higher education in business management and project management at Jagiellonian University in Krakow.

Suszek's business career began with a computer assembly and parts sales shop. He later moved into financial intermediation, becoming CEO of Multimoney in 2011, a company focused on small and medium-sized enterprise loans. He also served as CEO of LemonFinance Sp. z o.o., specializing in leasing and business loans, and was marketing director at Doradca24 S.A.

His rise to prominence came with the founding of BitBay in 2014. The exchange quickly became one of Poland's largest, earning him the moniker "Polish king of cryptocurrencies" or "Polish king of bitcoins." Suszek became interested in cryptocurrencies before they gained widespread popularity in Poland. In 2018, after BitBay was placed on a warning list by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, Suszek relocated the company to Malta. He stepped down as CEO in 2021, the same year BitBay rebranded to Zonda (later Zondacrypto).

At his peak, Suszek was speculated to be one of Poland's wealthiest individuals, known for flaunting his wealth through luxury apartments, a private helicopter, expensive cars, and gadgets. However, his public profile diminished significantly after his disappearance.

Suszek was last seen on March 10, 2022, around 3 p.m., getting into a car at a gas station on Wiosenna Street in Czeladź, Silesia. Silesian police issued a missing person report on March 14, 2022, describing his attire and noting that he had not contacted his family since leaving for a business meeting that day.

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Sylwester Suszek left home in the morning on March 10, 2022, for a business meeting in Czeladź. After finishing around 3:00 PM, he left. Since then, he has not contacted his family. On the day of his disappearance, the man was wearing black sports shoes with orange elements, an olive-black jacket with a yellow stripe, blue jeans, and a black sweatshirt. The man had a small bag with him – a fanny pack worn across the shoulder.