Zondacrypto, formerly one of the largest crypto exchanges in Central and Eastern Europe, has gone offline with customers still unable to access deposits and key executives no longer publicly present. As the platform remained unavailable, blockchain investigators said the exchange’s main Bitcoin wallet had been almost entirely emptied before operations ceased, while Estonia later cancelled the company’s operating license.

The case has widened beyond a failed exchange. Polish prosecutors have now folded the matter into a broader organized-crime investigation that also covers the earlier disappearance of founder Sylwester Suszek, leaving unanswered questions about missing customer assets, alleged money-laundering links, and who controlled the business in its final months.

From regional exchange to abrupt collapse

The company began in 2014 in Katowice as BitBay and was founded by Sylwester Suszek. It later operated under the Zondacrypto name and had been described as a leading cryptocurrency platform in Eastern and Central Europe before the service went dark and users lost access to funds held on the exchange.

Its problems have been reflected in its token as well. According to CoinMarketCap data cited in the source report, the ZND token has fallen 99.9% in value, while the platform used to hold customer deposits has been offline since April.

Executives disappear as wallet balances shrink

The company’s leadership crisis stretches back several years. Suszek disappeared in March 2022 after traveling to a fuel depot near Katowice to meet an associate. His family believes he was kidnapped and killed. Polish prosecutors later charged that associate with organized-crime membership, large-scale VAT fraud, money laundering, and unlawful deprivation of liberty connected to Suszek’s disappearance.

The report says another senior figure, Wszolek, later vanished as well. An attorney representing Suszek took over company affairs, and his last communication was posted on social media on April 16, 2026. Although there were reported sightings in Israel, Botswana, and Dubai, no further confirmed public communication has followed in the four months since.

Claims that a wallet containing 4,500 BTC, worth about $336 million, was accessible only to Suszek were challenged by blockchain forensics firm Recoveris. Its investigation found that Zondacrypto’s main Bitcoin hot wallet had fallen 99.7% from its recorded peak to roughly 0.086 BTC by April 1, 2026, leaving only about $9,700 at April 2026 prices.

Investigators trace transfers before shutdown

Recoveris also said it tracked about $21 million moved in 511 transactions from Zondacrypto-linked wallets to Kraken between December 2025 and early 2026. The firm said the exchange did not provide wallet addresses to prove its cold reserves, citing MiCA and DORA rules, which the report noted do not bar such disclosure.

Those findings have become central because customers remain locked out while the platform is offline. At the same time, the public record described in the report does not establish where all customer assets went, leaving the status of deposits unresolved.

License revoked as MiCA transition deadline arrives

Estonia’s Financial Intelligence Unit cancelled the license of BB Trade Estonia OÜ, Zondacrypto’s parent company, on June 29, 2026. Before that, on May 18, the FIU had temporarily suspended some licenses, which blocked the onboarding of new clients.

The timing was significant because Article 143 of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation allowed providers operating under earlier national regimes to continue only until July 1, 2026, or until ESMA approved an application. Zondacrypto’s Estonian authorization was revoked just two days before that cutoff. The FIU’s remit, however, is limited to anti-money-laundering supervision and does not extend to verifying whether customer funds exist or are being safely held.

Criminal probe broadens, customers await clarity

The Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice has merged the Zondacrypto matter into the National Prosecutor’s Office organized-crime investigation in the Silesia region. Prosecutors are examining the creation and operation of both BitBay and Zondacrypto, including the disappearance of Suszek.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk has accused Zondacrypto of links to Russian crime networks and intelligence agencies, and has pointed to financial ties involving right-wing politicians and events in Poland. Those are allegations within an ongoing investigation, not final findings. For customers, the next confirmed development is the continuing prosecutor-led probe, which now appears to be the main channel for establishing what happened to the exchange’s assets and leadership.

Source: Cryptopolitan