In Kyiv, Ukraine, police have arrested four men, aged 24 to 29, for allegedly kidnapping and murdering a 29-year-old foreign national Bitcoiner.
The suspects reportedly planned the attack and executed it around midnight on July 29, according to Kyiv Police.
Residents alerted the police after hearing screams and witnessing the victim being forcibly pushed into a car by several individuals.
The victim was subsequently taken to an abandoned building, where he was coerced into transferring approximately 7 million Ukrainian hryvnias worth of Bitcoin (about 2.55 BTC).
The attackers then strangled the victim and buried his body in a nearby forest.
Kyiv Police stated that the suspects attempted to conceal their crime by altering the car’s appearance and changing its license plates.
After the crime, they converted the stolen Bitcoin into U.S. dollars and euros.
However, they were eventually apprehended by the authorities.
Prosecutors in Kyiv are preparing to charge the four men with murder, robbery, illegal deprivation of liberty by an organized group, and concealment of a crime.
If convicted, they could face life imprisonment.
This incident highlights the dangers that continue to plague the cryptocurrency community.
Notably, in 2022, a crypto millionaire was found dismembered in a suitcase in Argentina, and another individual was murdered with a dumbbell in Bulgaria, with their remains disposed of in a drain.
Bitcoin cypherpunk Jameson Lopp has noted that criminals often identify potential victims through social media, public discussions, meetups, and conferences.
Lopp advises against engaging in peer-to-peer trades with untrusted individuals, flaunting wealth on social media, or wearing crypto-branded clothing.
“The general premise is that if criminals are less aware of you, they are less likely to target you,” he emphasized.
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