28.03.2024

UK Bitcoin Traders Robbed at Gunpoint

Two British Bitcoin traders became the victims of what local media outlets are calling the “UK’s first Bitcoin heist” after they were robbed at gunpoint by masked men and forced to transfer an undisclosed amount of cryptocurrency to the criminals’ accounts.

The incident – which took place on Jan. 22 – occurred in the tiny village of Moulsford, Oxfordshire, where cryptocurrency trader Danny Aston and his girlfriend, Amy Jay, lived with their infant.

According to a report in The Mail on Sunday, four men wearing balaclavas kicked down the couple’s door and took the couple’s baby outside while they forced Aston and Jay to transfer their cryptocurrency holdings.

Aston, 30, had reportedly executed more than 100,000 trades under the pseudonym “Goldiath”, and he and Jay, 31, jointly owned Aston Digital Currencies, a company they operated out of their home.

“No one was seriously injured during the incident”, the publication cites a Thames Valley Police spokesman as saying.

As of the time of writing, no arrests had been made, but police believe the couple was deliberately targeted. The report noted that, in Britain, crimes involving firearms are rare outside of the London metropolitan area and are often associated with organized crime.

The robbery is the latest in a disturbing trend of assaults targeting individuals associated with the cryptocurrency industry.

In December, New York resident Louis Meza allegedly kidnapped a cryptocurrency investor and stole $1.8 million worth of ether.

Later that month, an executive at cryptocurrency exchange EXMO was kidnapped in Ukraine and was ultimately released after he paid a $1 million ransom.

Just last week, three armed robbers entered Ottawa-based cryptocurrency exchange Canadian Bitcoins and attempted to force the employees to transfer funds to them. In this case, an employee in another part of the building was able to phone the police, who arrived before the suspects could complete the robbery.

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