The CEO of the Canadian cryptocurrency company WonderFi, Dean Skurka, was kidnapped on November 6 in downtown Toronto, writes CBC Toronto. He was released unharmed after paying a $1 million ransom.
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According to a spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service, the department received a call about a kidnapping around 6 p.m. The kidnappers forced the man into the car and demanded a ransom for his release. A broadcasting corporation source said the kidnapped person was Dean Skurka. He was released after transferring $1 million to the criminals.
The company’s CEO confirmed to CBC Toronto on Thursday that it had an “incident” but said it was now safe. Skurka also added that the company’s client funds and data remained protected and were not damaged during the incident.
Casa co-founder and chief security officer Jameson Lopp has been tracking incidents of physical violence associated with cryptocurrency theft for nearly a decade. According to him, Skurka’s kidnapping was the 171st case he knows of in which attackers used physical violence to steal bitcoins. The frequency of these types of incidents, according to their observations, is usually related to the Bitcoin exchange rate.
The investigation is ongoing and police have not yet released any suspects or other details.
The price of Bitcoin on November 6 updated its all-time high, exceeding $75 thousand. According to data from Coindesk, at the maximum of the day the cryptocurrency cost 75.36 thousand dollars. Bitcoin price has been actively growing for several days amid strong inflow. of funds in cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and in the context of the presidential elections in the United States, Bloomberg noted.
Author:
Karina Pardaeva
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
