Since before Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies became mainstream investment vehicles, they have been a means of executing cyber crimes. However, crimes affiliated with cryptocurrencies took a new shape this week, which also led to a casualty.
Bitcoin Costs This Man More Than Just $70,000
Earlier this week, a foreigner in the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, was kidnapped and strangled to death. However, before the four suspects strangled the man, he was forced to reveal the crypt to his Bitcoin, which was later seized by the accused.
According to the police, the stolen crypto was worth over 7 million hryvnias, or about $170,579. However, the police apprehended the four accused men and the stolen money.
This is the first such instance in recent history of a physical crime being premeditated and committed using cryptocurrency.
In the past, most crimes involving crypto assets have been limited to Malware, Fraud or Scams, Ransomware, or Money Laundering. However, increasing awareness of these crimes and improved response and defense from the authorities have led to a considerable decline.
According to the Chainalysis report, illicit addresses received only $24.2 billion in crypto assets in 2023. This marked a 38% decline from the previous year, 2022, when $39.6 billion worth of cryptocurrency moved into these wallets.
Interestingly, Bitcoin is no longer the choice of asset for crypto crimes. The majority of assets used have been stablecoins, with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoins collectively accounting for 27% of the total illicit transaction volume.
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