Florida: Teens Kidnap Investor for $4 Million in Cryptocurrency
Date: 2025-05-12 Author: Henry Casey Categories: IN WORLD
Two teenagers from Florida were arrested after kidnapping a cryptocurrency investor in Las Vegas, demanding access to assets worth $4 million. The crime occurred in November 2024, immediately after a business conference attended by the victim.
The young men, threatening with a firearm, put the man in a car and drove him out of town - to the desert of Arizona. There, they forced the victim to hand over data from crypto wallets and NFT storage. The threats were extremely cruel: the victim was told that if he did not comply with the demands, his father would be killed. To prevent the victim from identifying the attackers, they covered his head with a towel and told him not to look at them.
As it turned out later, there was a third participant behind the teenagers' actions - an adult man located outside the United States. According to the investigation, it was he who gave instructions over a loudspeaker, coordinating the kidnappers' actions on the spot.
Despite the seriousness of the threats, the man managed to escape. He walked several kilometers to the nearest gas station, where he asked for help. The police quickly began an investigation and soon identified the attackers.
Each of the teenagers now faces 11 criminal charges. Among them are kidnapping, armed robbery, extortion and other serious charges. One of the defendants used the services of renowned lawyer Ross Goodman, while the second agreed to be defended by a government lawyer.
This incident has become another example of the growing threat to digital asset owners. Analysts note that such crimes are becoming more frequent. Earlier, in January 2025, the co-founder of Ledger was kidnapped in Paris, and in February, unknown individuals captured an entire family in Chicago, demanding a ransom of $15 million in cryptocurrency.
Such cases raise questions about the need for new security measures for crypto investors. Earlier, it was also reported that WonderFi CEO Dean Skurka was kidnapped in Toronto, where criminals demanded $1 million for his release.
It is obvious that with the growth of capitalization of digital assets, the risks and criminal interest in them also grow.
