Kidnapping

In late 2017, the lead analyst of cryptocurrency exchange EXMO, Pavel Lerner, was kidnapped in Ukraine. On December 26th, men wearing dark-colored clothes and balaclavas forced him into a car and drove away. Lerner resurfaced only three days later, having paid a ransom to the kidnappers.

A young British model, who was kidnapped in Milan by two men who tried to sell her via auction for more than $300,000 in Bitcoin, told her story almost a month after she was released.