With bitcoin, the world has "cool new software!" but it still runs on savage animal logic. transparent, decentralized "this and that" is just another geoeconomic tool for the military industrial complex. a truly powerful currency would elevate money beyond cheap human expendability at the expense of the greater good.
If it was you who was tied up on the floor, about to be killed because 'rich guys won't pay my cheap ransom in bitcoin', I know you were going to love this one:
(Optional)
Then again, at 2021 prices, bitcoin is hardly a hedge against inflation. Who needs it? For what? A sink of value? The 2026 Bitcoin mining crisis is a bankruptcy wave the entire cryptocurrency industry will never recover from. But you think people should get kidnapped and wrenched for nothing? People have to pay hard-earned, inflated, permissioned, taxed, intermediary trust-controlled dollars for those ransoms— they can’t just float charity with spare Bitcoin!
To actually spend it somewhere reputable, you need a crypto credit card.
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There are lots of points already you can answer to, pal
Good point.
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..Or you should be careful with what you have and it's just the after-affect of crypto, not the cause of such bad situations happening..
"Being careful" wouldn't have helped Nancy Guthrie. The design itself enables, rewards and ignores harm.
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Before bitcoin was created, there have been people that were kidnapped. This is happening in many countries. Kidnapping is not something new and fiat are used for making the transaction for the ransom. Most of the kidnappers will prefer cash which is untraceable. So should government-created fiat should not exist because of that?
To cut someone's head is not the solution to the person's headache.
Don’t confuse the existence of crime with technologies that reduce its cost or systems that evolve to prevent it.
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I assume you can up with the title and decided that because of these happenings crypto should be made illegal..
if people can just keep a low profile of their crypto holdings, then I think they won't meet the headlines on crypto attacks. The idea of privacy have been discussed a lot of time on the forum and it's a matter that's really concerning.. a lot of crypto influencers and big names without good precautive or security measures walk the streets. It doesn't take one day to pull off such attacks. It's something that has been planned for weeks after getting certain information about such figures. We can't always be too careful, but taking privacy very serious is most important..
The problem with Bitcoin is: crime pays. Everybody knows Bitcoin isn't some black-tie institutional rocket-ship. It’s a regulatory-gap, sometimes gray-market asset.
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Your wish is not realistic. Many cryptocurrency aren't that centralized, where it cannot force KYC/AML every time you make a transaction.
That list also make this statement.
NOTE: this list is not comprehensive; many attacks are not publicly reported. If you are aware of an attack that is not listed, please open an issue or pull request.
Global AML/KYC enforcement does not require centralizing Bitcoin. AML/KYC is not a financial intermediary. AML/KYC removes the profit pathway that makes wrench attacks economically attractive. The specific success percentage is irrelevant to the core issue, the monetization of crime, which AML/KYC prevents.
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Stop spreading the FUD, bitcoin don't kidnap people but people do. I wish you could know the statistics of the illegal activities that fiat is used for daily, you will know that bitcoin isn't the problem here. Maybe, it's high time these rich bitcoin enthusiasts should walk around with securities as if they are carrying all the fiat in their bank account with them anywhere they go.
Bitcoin is money, when you show people you own some, you become a target. Stealing, killing, kidnapping are activities that cannot be stopped.
The Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt bruise your ego? Irreversible transfers make violent wrench attacks violently efficient — and violently attractive.
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So should Fiat then be illegal unless the Government knows who owns every single dollar and where it goes.
Know Your Customer is not the solution. The solution is that people stop being this dumb. The only thing they need is to avoid bragging about how much Bitcoin they have in the same way they would probably not brag about a stack of Cash hidden on their property. If no body knows you own it, no body will torture you for it.
Advising secrecy does not address the structural coercion risk created by instantly transferable, irreversible digital wealth.
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This kidnapping doesn't prove anything. Kidnappings have happened before. I understand that news outlets need PR and views, but why is everyone keeping quiet about other things?
Read up on kidnappings and SCAM centers in Myanmar. According to various sources, tens or even hundreds of thousands of people work there.
https[Suspicious link removed]cutes-scam-center-gang-members/8271770023697/
These scammers try to gain your trust and recommend investing in fake crypto exchanges, as one of the scams, but cryptocurrency isn't to blame.
Any financial system that permits irreversible transfers to inadequately verified recipients structurally rewards theft, coercion, and fraud.
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Staying humble is the key to it.
Though some hack the person and get the info regarding the info through such means, one should definitely not tell in public or out loud how much he has..
"staying humble" wouldn't have helped Nancy Guthrie
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Maybe people should just stop being so vocal about their holdings...
But to be honest, I don't see how would that change much in 2026. Crypto is so widely used that you don't even need to kidnap someone holding crypto in order to ask for crypto as a ransom.
As for "AML/KYC for all" then that's never going to happen. Truly decentralized coins do exist and they're not going anywhere. If self-custody gets banned (which is not realistic) do you believe that people won't find other way? Hackers use Binance and other CEXes as much (if not more) as you do. Fake or stolen IDs, pay someone from a poor country to verify accounts for them, etc.
There are plenty of AML/KYC systems that have never experienced security breaches. You're saying AML/KYC itself can be hacked, but there's no evidence of that. All evidence points to the exact contrary: If they can’t be paid without being traced by AML/KYC, they can’t be paid illegally without being identified and hunted for justice.
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Maybe people should just stop being so vocal about their holdings...
But to be honest, I don't see how would that change much in 2026. Crypto is so widely used that you don't even need to kidnap someone holding crypto in order to ask for crypto as a ransom.
As for "AML/KYC for all" then that's never going to happen. Truly decentralized coins do exist and they're not going anywhere. If self-custody gets banned (which is not realistic) do you believe that people won't find other way? Hackers use Binance and other CEXes as much (if not more) as you do. Fake or stolen IDs, pay someone from a poor country to verify accounts for them, etc.
It's not realistic at all, and peeps would still get hurt, but just in other ways.. not just ransoms or something like that.
Government is not the entity we should cry our shoulders to the most to solve such a thing - first line of defense is ourselves.
Personal caution can’t fix skyrocketing profits for scammers and thugs.
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Staying humble is the key to it.
Though some hack the person and get the info regarding the info through such means, one should definitely not tell in public or out loud how much he has..
It could be as stupid, bad and simple as some people being the target of an attacker using the Ledger leaks. As far as I remember, there was some pretty personal information leaked.
But after all. All you need is to know the Email Address of a person, open a Tor or VPN connection and try to register on Binance, Coinbase et cetera. If they have an account there, it may be enough.
And then here goes my effort to keep preaching the same advice over and over again while no body else cares. Separate personal Email Address from the one used for Exchanges. Deliver the Hardware Wallet to a Post Office Box. Use a temporary phone number when placing the order. Et cetera. The less information you leave behind, the less possible that you will be attacked like this.
The latest evolution of crime is not to target Bitcoin holders at all. It's demanding free-ride, irreversible ransom payments -- in the form of crypto -- from anyone, for any amount, sent to a fresh, untraceable address.
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It's been a while since I've seen a funny troll around here. Not because of what he lays out, but because of the conclusion he draws. It seems like something straight out of a manual for snake oil salesmen, I mean populist politicians. In other words, I'm going to forbid you from doing something for your own good, and only when I have complete control will I allow you to do it again (hopefully).
don't confuse non-ownable, universal verification with centralized control.
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The recent kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie shows that all cryptocurrency should be made illegal worldwide until full KYC and AML protocols are enforced for all transactions.
If you are identifiable as a crypto holder and have dependents or loved ones, you are not just a financial target—you are a family target.
https://github.com/jlopp/physical-bitcoin-attacks?tab=readme-ov-fileKidnappings have a 90% success rate.
How do the other people can know that you have cryptocurrency?
Let's be frankly with yourself, they only can know it if you live a noisy life, and you want to be famous on social media with your flex posts there or in your real physical life with luxurious stuffs or items with cryptocurrency related information or you hang out and tell other people about your investment or trading in cryptocurrency market.
Bitcoin can not solve it, altcoins can not solve it, and governments can not control what you want to do. In other words, if you want fame, make noise, and destroy your privacy, no other entities from government to other people can protect you.
It's not about if you have crypto. It's about how easy it is to extort payment.
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The recent kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie shows that all cryptocurrency should be made illegal worldwide until full KYC and AML protocols are enforced for all transactions.
If you are identifiable as a crypto holder and have dependents or loved ones, you are not just a financial target—you are a family target.
https://github.com/jlopp/physical-bitcoin-attacks?tab=readme-ov-fileKidnappings have a 90% success rate.
How do the other people can know that you have cryptocurrency?
Let's be frankly with yourself, they only can know it if you live a noisy life, and you want to be famous on social media with your flex posts there or in your real physical life with luxurious stuffs or items with cryptocurrency related information or you hang out and tell other people about your investment or trading in cryptocurrency market.
Bitcoin can not solve it, altcoins can not solve it, and governments can not control what you want to do. In other words, if you want fame, make noise, and destroy your privacy, no other entities from government to other people can protect you.
But actually even if they are not crypto user and know that their victim is so rich, those criminals can still demand that they want their ransom money to be paid thru Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency.
They might introduce that to the family of the victim since this is the easy way on how the criminals can secure the money they get from their victims.
On that situation happened, much really better for rich people to invest for having security aides. Then also for other people out there better not to flaunt their crypto richest because there are criminals out their might think about doing same situation happen on the subject and they might get harm if they flex to much that they have lots of crypto or money.
we might devolve into a world of billionair kidnappings. Lower the barriers to payment, and you industrialize elite kidnapping. Raise the protections, good prevails.
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The recent kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie shows that all cryptocurrency should be made illegal worldwide until full KYC and AML protocols are enforced for all transactions.
The recent stabbing of a random stranger in the street shows that all knife (those sold for cutting bread) should be made illegal worldwide. Do you agree with this opinion? Money should also be made illegal worldwide (especially cash) until full KYC and AML protocols are enforced because money is the root of all evil.
I don't know why but too many people are happy and are willing to be enslaved by the government. Why don't you guys prefer freedom and education over enslavement and imprisonment? Why?
Kidnappings have a 90% success rate.
Stabbing also has a very high success rate. Let's make absolutely every knife illegal.
I didn’t say “ban it forever” — I said stop the crime. Any other view accepts human life to be needlessly expendable.
