Zondacrypto’s collapse has become the focus of a criminal and regulatory investigation after the cryptocurrency exchange shut down in April 2026, leaving thousands of customers unable to withdraw their assets.
An investigation published by The New York Times on 23 August examined the disappearance of the company’s founder, Sylwester Suszek, and the whereabouts of his successor, Przemysław Kral. The two cases are not the same, however: Suszek has not been seen since March 2022, while Kral has been reported outside Poland, including in Israel, but has not been independently confirmed as missing.
Polish prosecutors are investigating suspected fraud linked to the exchange. Customer losses are estimated at more than 350m zlotys (£70m; $96m), according to Reuters.
Thousands of users have reportedly been unable to access their money. Zondacrypto did not respond to a Reuters request for comment in May, while neither Suszek nor Kral could be contacted.
The exchange’s website stopped working on 23 April. Its company-linked ZND token then lost almost all of its market value, while market-tracking services now show no active Zondacrypto trading pairs or reported trading volume.
The collapse has also intensified debate over cryptocurrency regulation in Poland. The country’s parliament was considering competing cryptocurrency bills covering enforcement powers, the freezing of accounts and financial penalties, as previously reported by crypto.news.
Unresolved questions over founder
Suszek disappeared on 10 March 2022 after travelling to a meeting in Czeladz, Poland. He founded BitBay, the predecessor to Zondacrypto, in 2014.
The New York Times reported that members of his family received messages saying he had been kidnapped and that his captors wanted bitcoin. Those messages, along with the family’s account, do not establish what happened to Suszek.
Marian Wszolek, a former associate, was later charged in relation to allegations of kidnapping and money laundering, according to the newspaper. Suszek’s fate remains unresolved and no publicly cited court judgment has established that he is dead.
Kral subsequently became the exchange’s public figurehead and led its rebranding as Zondacrypto. Reuters reported in May that Polish media had located him in Israel, where he reportedly has citizenship. Other reports have placed him in Dubai, although authorities have not independently verified those claims.
Before the exchange closed, Kral rejected suggestions that Zondacrypto was insolvent. He said blockchain researchers had examined only the company’s visible “hot wallets” and had failed to account for assets held offline.
Kral claimed that Zondacrypto controlled more than 4,500 BTC. He also said Suszek still had access to a wallet connected to those funds.
However, the statement that “The missing founder was the only person who could unlock them” remains an unverified claim by the company. Zondacrypto did not publish a complete list of its wallets, a reconciliation of customer liabilities or independently audited proof of reserves.
Earlier blockchain analysis attributed to recovery firm Recoveris found that bitcoin held in identified hot wallets fell from about 55.7 BTC in August 2024 to 0.18 BTC in March 2026.
That analysis covered only wallets that had been identified publicly. It did not measure Zondacrypto’s complete balance sheet and therefore cannot independently prove the total amount owed to customers.
Investigations could shape crypto regulation
Customers now face the prospect of relying on criminal investigations and any future insolvency or recovery proceedings to retrieve their assets.
Key issues for investigators include whether the missing funds can be traced, who controlled the relevant accounts and which wallets were being used to hold customer deposits.
Authorities must also establish Kral’s location and legal status. Reports that he is abroad do not, by themselves, confirm the existence of an arrest warrant, an extradition request or any criminal finding against him.
The outcome of the case could affect how Poland implements the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework. It may also influence future regulatory decisions on reserve attestations, custody safeguards and exchanges operating across multiple jurisdictions.
