South Africa Kidnappers demands Ransom in Bitcoin to free teenager

[richan]

A criminal gang in South Africa who kidnapped a teenage boy on Sunday are demanding a ransom in bitcoin crytocurrency of nearly $120,000, police said.

http://www.africanews.com/2018/05/23/south-africa-kidnappers-demand-ransom-in-bitcoin-to-free-teenager
How will such news affect critics view of bitcoins?

[jademaxsuy]

This could be a new way for the terrorist groups to obtain ransom fee without getting compromised with their identity. Well they are using bitcoin for there illegal activities and this is not a good thing about posting it here in the forum. This will lead to more negativeness on bitcoin system. As we all know that bitcoin is being designed for any decentralized transactions that will not required identity in getting involve with it to keep oneself security.

[liangweicha]

I wonder why these terrorist groups do not require other anonymous tokens.
Because bitcoin transfers can be traced back, anonymous token transfers cannot be found.

[Tankdestroyer]

It might worsen their subjective opinion of bitcoin, but it won't greatly affect us because bitcoin being used for criminal activities(sometimes) is already a well known fact.

This could be a new way for the terrorist groups to obtain ransom fee without getting compromised with their identity.

You might want to read this articles from bitcoin.com, express.co.uk, and coindesk to enlighten yourself. My point here is that it is already being used by terrorist(like ISIS) to fund their terrorism way back January 2018, and it is not a new way for them because they already have used bitcoin to ask for ransom according to another article.

[LilCoronado]

looks like a new movie is about to be made

[Andrew1337]

Please do not listen to social media when you are talking about cryptocurrencies . We know all that all crypto world is manipulated by social media "China bans ICOs/mining ; Japan bans Bitcoin" . And in the second way Africa is the last country in the world.

[EzzNju]

Making the adoption of bitcoin even more difficult,especiaally with goverment.Criminals,terrorists,kidnappers,moneylaunders,have found a safe haven with the use of bitcoin..Its just a matter of time b4 strict regulatory policies are introduced..

[CoinstarF]

It might worsen their subjective opinion of bitcoin, but it won't greatly affect us because bitcoin being used for criminal activities(sometimes) is already a well known fact.

This could be a new way for the terrorist groups to obtain ransom fee without getting compromised with their identity.

You might want to read this articles from bitcoin.com, express.co.uk, and coindesk to enlighten yourself. My point here is that it is already being used by terrorist groups to fund their terrorism way back January 2018, and it is not a new way for them because they have used it already.

These topic makes  negative views in Bitcoin but for us holders and investors we knew the inside it is good and very respectful Bitcoin is we set aside those bad  people bullying bitcoin we ignored them.

[velereumyos]

I wonder why these terrorist groups do not require other anonymous tokens.
Because bitcoin transfers can be traced back, anonymous token transfers cannot be found.

Yeah, they have a plan.
Get bitcoin then exchange with another token. So they will be safe. and then, they are will sell all tokens again.

[Corsicoin]

This is the dark side of bitcoin. You are the only holder of your money.
You can't hide under bank's privacy.
So talk with caution and choose wiselynthe people you talk to.

[Juggy777]

How many of you'll thought that is another attempt to bring down the use of bitcoins. Look how the mainstream media is sharing this news, it's as if bitcoins is a person and that's is guilty. People ransom used to and even till date happens in fiat, what is the guarantee that this is a real kidnapping and not just a ploy by the bankers, media and government to bring Ill reputation to bitcoins.

[Maestro75]

A criminal gang in South Africa who kidnapped a teenage boy on Sunday are demanding a ransom in bitcoin crytocurrency of nearly $120,000, police said.

http://www.africanews.com/2018/05/23/south-africa-kidnappers-demand-ransom-in-bitcoin-to-free-teenager
How will such news affect critics view of bitcoins?

This is not the first time we have read about this kind of happening online. Sometime last year it was about a Spanish who was also held to ransom and bitcoin demanded. This is a dangerous development and it will continue to give bitcoin a bad name.

[wtbhitlv]

Because of the anonymity of bitcoin, it has been able to collect money efficiently, and some illegal activities like to use bitcoin payment. This is part of the encryption world. We need not be surprised. This is not that bitcoin is a bad technology. We should know that people use the US dollar illegally every day in the world.

[eternalgloom]

Of course critics of Bitcoin always like to use news like this, just to 'prove' their point that Bitcoin is mostly used by criminals.
In reality, I'm sure that the absolute majority of criminal transactions are still done with either cash or through bank accounts even (by mules).

Heck, the other day I even saw a website that allowed you to buy various drugs and pay with a SEPA transfer. (on the clearnet mind you)

I do think that once Bitcoin or crypto in general is used by more and more people, news like this won't even matter that much anymore.
Then people might actually start seeing it as a form of digital cash, while also knowing that sometimes technology is used by bad people. It doesn't mean that the technology itself is bad.

[boakyei]

A bad news for bitcoins that will affect its implicitly. The criminality that bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies can be use for is the main reason why banks and governments dont want to give it a full support. Other bad people will follow and it will become norm for kidnappers to demand their ransom in cryptocurrencies.

[Lucius]

Abductions happen every day and this is nothing new, also there is a reports that kidnappers ask ransome in cryptocurrency before. But BTC is not completely anonymous and in such cases special efforts can be made to find the kidnappers. It is obvious that these perpetrators are not familiar with facts that they can ask ransome in some other crypto which is much harder or nearly impossible to track.

Such news certainly does not contribute to popularity of BTC, but they should be seen as just one more obstacle on the road to success.

[cryptohunter]

Not bitcoins fault really is it

You have money and go to such places then you are taking a risk........ sometimes it doesn't pay off.

Hopefully the transaction goes through and the kidnappers release them unharmed... takes pressure off of the kidnappers and less likely to encourage a failed rescue attempt than a cash settlement

This is more of an indication that the some countries have failed to address social problems ... I would say it is far worse news for s africa than it is for btc that is doing its job perfectly.

[Kemarit]

A criminal gang in South Africa who kidnapped a teenage boy on Sunday are demanding a ransom in bitcoin crytocurrency of nearly $120,000, police said.

http://www.africanews.com/2018/05/23/south-africa-kidnappers-demand-ransom-in-bitcoin-to-free-teenager
How will such news affect critics view of bitcoins?

Of course this will be another negative for bitcoin as a whole. And those who are against bitcoin will really used this crimes another way to opposed it in every way. Maybe those critics inside Africa will blow this out of the proportion and painted bitcoin as a tool for criminals. As for the price, it may have affected it but I don't think that it will be long term though. Right now the price keeps going down and maybe this news have added fuel to the fire. But if you are going to analyze it, criminals will be criminals and will exploit any system that they can find and crypto is one system that they can take full advantage because of its (pseudo) anonymity.

[MountainConqueror]

Not bitcoins fault really is it
You have money and go to such places then you are taking a risk........ sometimes it doesn't pay off.
Hopefully the transaction goes through and the kidnappers release them unharmed... takes pressure off of the kidnappers and less likely to encourage a failed rescue attempt than a cash settlement
This is more of an indication that the some countries have failed to address social problems ... I would say it is far worse news for s africa than it is for btc that is doing its job perfectly.

Yeah, I think they're using Bitcoin name just to get more attention, there is no point in blaming cryptocurrency. Same way that people can kidnap a kid and demand Dollars or Euros  

[jseverson]

I don't think it'll change critics' views. They've already made up their minds that Bitcoin is evil, so this is just another drop in the bucket. Never mind the fact that kidnappers have asked for cash in kidnappings since time immemorial.

But yeah, it kind of baffles me why they would ask Bitcoins as ransom money. They realize they're going to have a ridiculously hard time spending it because the addresses involved will be heavily monitored right? Cash would be a lot easier to hide and spend. They're probably planning to escape overseas or something, and even then, their identities could still be traced fairly easily. It kind of makes me think that the kidnappers themselves know nothing about the technology. Misconceptions work both ways, if that were the case, and they will be brought to justice because of Bitcoin lmao.