Polish Crypto Exchange Founder Missing Since 2022 Amid Wrench Attack Concerns

The founder of BitBay, a Polish cryptocurrency exchange, has been missing since March 2022. Sylwester Suszek vanished after driving to a fuel company's property in southern Poland, where his Porsche remained, but he did not return. His phone stopped connecting to the network that afternoon.

Prosecutors have combined the disappearance investigation with allegations of financial offenses involving companies connected to BitBay and its successor, ZondaCrypto. A suspect was accused of removing a hard drive from a fuel station's surveillance recorder, which is part of the obstruction charge. The accused denies the charges.

The renewed search comes amid concern over 'wrench attacks,' which include robberies, kidnappings, and other physical attempts to force people to surrender cryptocurrency. Since 2014, there have been 68 publicly known cases in France, 59 in the US, and 24 in the UK.