Crime in and around the cryptocurrency space is nothing new, in fact, it is a factor that continues to hamper the growth and adoption of this nascent space. However, most of the crime is usually cyber and involves hacking, or online scams and crimes. 

That being said, there has been a spate of more physical and tangible crime around Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency. Now, a report out of Norway has seen a man who made his fortune in Bitcoin being targeted by burglars, forcing him to flee and jump off his balcony. 

This follows on from a gruesome attack in India where a failed cryptocurrency businesses owner was targeted and tortured in order to pry  information out of him on cryptocurrency access codes and private keys. 

$11 million at stake

The report suggests that the victim was attacked at home where burglars entered his block and went straight to his front door. When the criminals reached his door, they rang the bell and as he opened the door, a gun was pointed in his face. 

Allegedly, the victim was told: “Lie down, or I’ll shoot.” However, there were no shots fired, or much damage done, as the victim was able to throw himself from his balcony in order to escape the criminals who were clearly after his Bitcoin funds. 

There is not much known about the victim, and whether or not he paraded his Bitcoin fortune around - but it is suspected his fortune was in the range of 100 million NOK ($11.2 million) that he earned through his ten-year involvement in the crypto space. This fact was however known in the public spotlight. 

His successes in the cryptocurrency space was brought forward into the public eye because the victim is said to be the general manager and owner of the board at an unnamed business in the cryptocurrency sector.

Easily targeted

As mentioned earlier, a business man in India was not so lucky as the man from Norway, as he was brutally murdered when his cryptocurrency business failed and the victims of his investment company came looking for retribution. 

The attackers in this case believed that the man still had access to funds but was keeping them a secret so they decided to tourture him to try and force him to reveal where the funds were being kept. 

There have been a number of other notable cases where the crimes in the cryptocurrency space have crossed over to reality with the advertising of wealth the common cause in most of these attacks. 

In 2018, A Russian cryptocurrency investor and blogger known online as Pavel Nyashin was found dead in his Petersburg apartment, according to local media. The 23-year old was previously assaulted when masked assailants stole 24 million rubles ($425,000) in cash, after Nyashin had boasted of his crypto-derived wealth online.

Following the attack, Nyashin decided to move in with his mother in an apartment in the eastern suburbs of St. Petersburg, where he was found dead.