US EditionCrypto Crime Spills over From Behind the Screen to Real-Life Violence
- Thirteen people were federally indicted in Washington, D.C. After allegations surfaced of kidnapping, assault, and stealing over $260 million in cryptocurrency in 2024.
- The case began after a Connecticut couple was carjacked and held for ransom related to their son's crypto activities, and a 28-year-old Italian man claimed weeks of torture for his Bitcoin password.
- Similar incidents include kidnappings and ransom demands targeting crypto entrepreneurs and their families in France, with victims enduring assaults and one reportedly losing a finger.
- The 2024 FBI internet crime report recorded nearly 860,000 complaints with $16.6 billion in losses, including over $6.5 billion from cryptocurrency theft, as experts link violence to weak regulation and rising crypto value.
- Authorities and analysts say physical violence in crypto crimes is rising because criminals exploit anonymity and large financial stakes, signaling a shift in how traditional robbery and threats are understood.
72 Articles
72 Articles
‘Crypto King’ Lived as an Arrogant Showoff, Now Arrested in Las Vegas: ‘Huge Mess’
He preferred to pose on social media in exclusive cars, which he regularly totaled, or with the most expensive steak on his plate in Dubai. The Belgian Cain Ransbottyn led a life of luxury, but has now been arrested in America on suspicion of money laundering.
How crypto crime is morphing into real-life violence
A man says he was tortured for weeks in a New York townhouse. Another in Paris was held for ransom and his finger cut off. A couple in Connecticut were carjacked, beaten and thrown into a van.All, authorities allege, were victims tied to cryptocurrency-related crimes that have spilled out from behind computer screens and into the real world as the largely unregulated currency surges in value.While crypto thefts are not new, the use of physical v…
'Wrench attacks' subject some cryptocurrency holders to violence, kidnapping
Police in two cases in the United States, and one in France, allege that brutal assaults were tied to cryptocurrency-related crimes that have spilled out from behind computer screens and into the real world as the largely unregulated currency surges in value.
‘Little evidence’ that EU laws aided criminals in crypto kidnappings
Earlier this month, the father of a wealthy cryptocurrency entrepreneur was abducted in Paris while walking his dog. The attackers, wearing balaclavas, forced him into a van, later severing one of his fingers and sending a video of the mutilation to his son alongside a demand for millions of euros in ransom. The incident joined a growing list of violent crimes in France linked to crypto wealth. Victims have included a prominent entrepreneur and …
France Crypto Kidnapping Plot Foiled, Over 20 Arrested: Source
France has foiled the latest in a spate of kidnapping plots targeting cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, and detained more than 20 people over that attempt and another against crypto boss Pierre Noizat's family, a police source said.
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