SatoshiLabs Group, the holding company behind cryptocurrency innovations such as the original Bitcoin hardware wallet Trezor, has appointed Tomáš Sušánka, formerly Head of Engineering, as Trezor's new CTO.
Tomáš Sušánka is an experienced cryptographic engineer who joined the company in 2017, coming from previous experience at Cloudflare. Open-source security solutions such as Trezor as well as Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are both his passion and hobby.
“In my new position, I will primarily focus on building strong independent teams to serve as the crucial pillar of our technology. With cryptocurrencies increasing in popularity, we recognize an increasing need for automating development processes. Last but not least I will be dedicated to enabling both professional and personal growth of our people, which is key to the future development of Trezor products like Trezor Suite.”
Tomáš Sušánka
The CTO position is being passed to Tomaš from Pavol Rusnák (best known as Stick), who is a co-founder and co-owner of the holding company. Stick will continue to support Trezor's mission from his position in upper management of the SatoshiLabs Group.
“Tomáš has proven his skills both as a developer and as a capable manager who has led his team to success during his time with the company. Nowadays it is not easy to find a person to fill a top management position who not only knows how to lead a team but also understands our industry and embraces our particular independent mindset. I am truly looking forward to Tomáš driving forward the innovation Trezor is so well known for in the crypto security industry.” Pavol Rusnák, SatoshiLabs Co-founder
SatoshiLabs group has grown significantly, almost doubling its headcount over the last year. The company continues to search for highly motivated talent across a range of positions. For more information about open roles visit our career page.
A New Era of Secure Elements Built on Transparency and Verifiable Trust.
Tropic Square, a fabless semiconductor company that develops secure hardware through open architecture, today announced the official launch and general availability of its first-generation secure element, TROPIC01.
TROPIC01 is the industry's first open-architecture hardware security element. The chip is auditable and designed to meet the increasing demand for transparency in hardware security. This tamper-proof solution offers a secure alternative to existing closed architecture chips, making it ideal for the security needs of IoT devices, crypto hardware wallets, digital identity devices, and hardware authenticators.
“TROPIC01 provides the disruption that traditional hardware security needs,” stated John Sirianni, CEO of Tropic Square. “It’s the industry's first auditable, open-source solution – transparency to this degree has been unheard of to date. With the evolving sophistication and frequency of cyber threats and increasing regulatory demands, transparency is no longer optional—it’s essential. TROPIC01 provides the semiconductor innovation that the market is demanding.”
Considering that cybercrime is reported to cost the world an estimated $13.82 trillion by 20281, there is an urgent need for robust security elements such as TROPIC01. Providing advanced security against side-channel, laser, and other advanced attacks, TROPIC01 has been developed with fully verifiable cryptographic implementations, granting enterprises and developers unprecedented control over their security infrastructure.
“We are excited to launch the industry's first truly open and auditable secure element chips,” said Jan Pleskac, CTO and Co-Founder of Tropic Square. “Existing closed-source secure elements don’t allow for auditing; hence engineers and security experts cannot confirm whether vulnerabilities or backdoors exist. TROPIC01, on the other hand, allows engineers to verify the security implementation for themselves, giving them confidence in what they are embedding into their devices.”
TROPIC01’s open architecture allows electronic manufacturers and designers to verify the security implementation and claims. This provides engineers more control of their design process without being restricted by NDAs or the limitations of traditional black box secure elements.
“This chip is exactly what the security industry needs,” said Miro Sveltik, CEO of ContentWise, a Deep Tech design house currently prototyping with TROPIC01. “Security is critical for our customers. We cannot truly stand behind solutions we offer to the market unless we can verify its security implementation.”
TROPIC01 supports use cases such as secure boot, firmware updates, and key management– critical security features that enable product readiness for compliance with regulations such as the European Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).
TROPIC01 chips general availability
Product Availability & Shipping
TROPIC01 development kits and engineering samples have been available since early February 2025, and now the chip is available for wide-scale production orders. Secure provisioning, customization, and shipping logistics are managed in partnership with EPS Global.
Companies building secure devices such as blockchain-enabled hardware, DePIN solutions, and IoT devices (including industrial, medical, etc.) can order TROPIC01 samples to evaluate product feasibility.
Awards and Recognition – Embedded World Nuremberg 11-13 March 2025
In recognition of its innovative approach to safety and security in embedded systems, TROPIC01 has been nominated for an Embedded Award in the Safety and Security category. The Embedded Awards honour outstanding innovations in the field of secure embedded technologies, highlighting products that set new standards in quality and functionality.
At the Embedded World 2025 event in Nuremberg, Germany, Tropic Square will offer live demonstrations of TROPIC01's capabilities and provide insights into its development process. Attendees are invited to visit the Tropic Square booth (5-373) to learn more about how TROPIC01 can enhance the security of embedded systems.
Additional information about TROPIC01 can be found at:
TROPIC01 nominated for innovative designs in the Safety & Security category for Embedded World 2025
- About Tropic Square
Tropic Square, a SatoshiLabs company, develops open-architecture secure elements for applications ranging from IoT and crypto wallets to any modern application that prioritizes security.
By placing transparency at the core of our design philosophy, we invite industry experts and members of the open-source community to test, validate, and strengthen our security implementation.
Tropic Square is entering the next phase of its development, with co-founder Jan Pleskač returning to lead the company. Jan, who has served as CTO up until now, will shift his focus even more toward the company’s strategic growth and product vision. His deep expertise in technology and product development, along with his comprehensive understanding of the company and its mission, will ensure a smooth leadership transition and support continued growth.
Jan takes over from John Sirianni, to whom sincere gratitude is extended for his valuable know-how and contributions to Tropic Square, particularly in finalizing the patent and launching the company’s first product, TROPIC01.
“This year, we officially introduced our first product TROPIC01 at the Embedded World conference, where it achieved remarkable success. It even won the Embedded Award in the Safety and Security category for its innovative contribution to the industry, and we distributed over 300 developer kits. The feedback from the community has been incredible, confirming the excitement surrounding our new chip. We want to thank John for his dedication and hard work on TROPIC01, and we wish him great success in his next chapter," said Jan Pleskač, the CEO of Tropic Square.
Tropic Square is ready for the next stage of growth, and the entire team, which is part of the SatoshiLabs technology group, is excited to embark on this new chapter.
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About Tropic Square
Tropic Square, a SatoshiLabs company, develops open-architecture secure elements for applications ranging from IoT and crypto wallets to any modern application that prioritizes security.
By placing transparency at the core of our design philosophy, we invite industry experts and members of the open-source community to test, validate, and strengthen our security implementation.
Tropic Square proudly announces that its flagship product, TROPIC01, has been honored with two awards at this year’s Embedded World Exhibition & Conference held in Nuremberg, Germany from March 11 to 13. The team received the prestigious Embedded Award 2025 for Safety and Security, as well as the Best in Show Award.
The Embedded Award recognizes outstanding innovations in secure embedded system technologies, highlighting products that set new standards in quality and functionality while enhancing safety and security in an increasingly connected world. TROPIC01 stood out among the nominations for its auditable open architecture design that delivers unprecedented transparency and open verification of security features. Tropic Square also received the Best in Show award for the innovation that TROPIC01 brings to the market.
"Receiving these awards is a testament to our commitment to redefining hardware security," said Jan Pleskac CEO & Co-founder of Tropic Square. “TROPIC01 addresses the critical need for transparent and verifiable security solutions in today's digital landscape. This recognition reinforces our mission to set new standards in the industry."
Designed to be tamper-resistant against advanced physical attacks, TROPIC01 is the industry’s first auditable open architecture secure element. The product addresses the concern of secure hardware having backdoors or hidden flaws by providing transparent access to the design and documentation for anyone to independently conduct security reviews, audits, and testing.
Tropic Square, a SatoshiLabs company, develops open-architecture secure elements for applications ranging from IoT and crypto wallets to any modern application that prioritizes security.
By placing transparency at the core of our design philosophy, we invite industry experts and members of the open-source community to test, validate, and strengthen our security implementation.
Defining the strategy for the holding group, building the best HR team in the Czech Republic, and supporting the founders and CEOs of individual companies are all ambitious goals Ladislav Veselý is bringing to SatoshiLabs as its new COO. Veselý enters this new chapter with years of leadership experience, having served as the CEO of Slevomat Group and Product Division Director at Seznam.cz.
"I was motivated by the opportunity to step into a completely different environment. After five years with one company, I was looking for a new industry, a different stage the company is currently in, and a new sense of purpose. I’m also inspired by the founders’ values and their focus on people and product quality. At SatoshiLabs, money isn’t the goal; it’s the energy that drives everything. This alignment made the decision easy for me, and I’m excited about this new chapter," says Veselý.
From Operations to Leading Three Companies
Veselý spent nearly five and a half years in leadership roles at Slevomat. After just one year as COO, he was promoted to CEO, eventually overseeing all three companies in the group. He considers Slevomat’s post-pandemic business performance his greatest professional achievement.
"I’m proud that Slevomat emerged from the pandemic as the strongest Czech travel brand, achieving record profits and profitability. At that time, the company was generating the vast majority of the European group’s profits," Veselý reflects.
He also credits his time at Seznam.cz as one of the most formative periods in his career, where he gained valuable experience in product development, agile methods, and team learning and development. Veselý also served as Chief Product Officer (CPO) at the publishing house Economia.
Building a Strong HR Team and Supporting Leadership
"What drew me to SatoshiLabs was a combination of factors: the team’s strong internal motivation, the truly global reach of the company, and the emphasis on personal freedom that comes with responsibility. Honestly, I feel like I’d work here even if they were making rubber ducks. The fact that we have four bootstrapped companies with global products is just the icing on the cake—and a huge source of motivation. The quality, passion, and trust I’ve sensed in just a few days are unlike anything I’ve experienced before," Veselý adds.
In addition to supporting the CEOs of the companies within the group, Veselý plans to define the group’s strategy and build the strongest HR and operations team in the Czech Republic.
"We wanted the new member of our leadership team to not only have extensive experience in operational management and a strong understanding of the holding environment and business-building processes, but also exceptional people leadership and development skills. Ladislav offers a unique combination of these qualities. His experience leading Slevomat and his approach to managing teams and companies will undoubtedly help us grow further," said Marek Palatinus, co-founder of SatoshiLabs.
About SatoshiLabs
SatoshiLabs is a global technology group focused on cryptocurrency and open-source innovation. Its founders, Marek Palatinus and Pavol Rusnák, created Trezor—the world’s first cryptocurrency hardware wallet—and turned it into a billion-dollar business. The group also includes Vexl, a P2P Bitcoin trading app without KYC requirements; Invity, a mobile app for buying, selling, and saving Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies; and Tropic Square, which designs and develops unique transparent security chips.
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