Is the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie an attack against BTC?

[ABCbits]

also, maybe if there could be a more advanced measure for mixers operators to ensure they don't mix dirty coins, just to tackle against all these kind of narratives that mixers shields for scam

History shows such attempt doesn't as well as you expected. zkSNACKs (former company behind Wasabi Wallet) introduced filtering on their CoinJoin coordinator, but received mixed reaction from community. But they eventually decide to exclude US citizen, before finally shutdown their CoinJoin coordinator.

So it will hurt BTC for sure , but I do not know if the kidnappers just want BTC or if there is no kidnapping and it is a plot to hurt crypto.

How, why should it, this is not the first of its kind that these heartless people will be demanding from crypto as ransom, just that there could be a coincidence after this that the market may react and we thought about being a market reaction due to the ransom being paid.

OP probably talk about how government would use it as justification to pass more strict or invasive law related with cryptocurrency.

[nemesis_incarnate]

Reading through the replies, I honestly feel like we’re mixing two different things which are; a serious criminal act and speculation about Bitcoin’s reputation.

Whether ransom is asked in BTC, cash or anything else, the crime remains the same. I don’t see how this directly becomes an “attack” on Bitcoin. If anything, these situations often end up highlighting the transparency of the blockchain.

It’s unfortunate but I don’t think this changes anything about how Bitcoin works or how people view it long term.

it changes how the govs may look at btc. btc itself won't change.. but i too hardly believe it will lead to legislative type of change.

[NotATether]

This kidnapping could mean a call to be able to freeze BTC. It certainly will damage BTC if the ranson is paid and if the kidnappers are never caught.

Why?

There are literally hundreds of kidnapping cases involving BTC ransoms. Why is this particular case so special for Bitcoin?

I just don't get it.

The worst may already have happened if kidnappers are dishonest, which they frequently are.

[sokani]

Yes, it will be cause a lot of damage in the crypto world. Bitcoin will lose value, and government will have wrong perception on Bitcoin due to the use of bitcoin fostering fraudulent acts.

Is this the first time kidnappers are asking for ransom in crypto? If it is not, why would this case suddenly change the government stance on Bitcoin?

You need to understand that Bitcoin has grown to the level that cases like this have little or no effect on it. I'll admit that the image of privacy tools might be threatened here since it is what criminals use to hide illicit funds, but it cannot tarnish Bitcoin's image like you envisaged.

[john_egbert]

This kidnapping could mean a call to be able to freeze BTC. It certainly will damage BTC if the ranson is paid and if the kidnappers are never caught.

Why?

There are literally hundreds of kidnapping cases involving BTC ransoms. Why is this particular case so special for Bitcoin?

I just don't get it.

The worst may already have happened if kidnappers are dishonest, which they frequently are.

i too don't understand why this specific case would be the "last straw".. any case at this point may be a case that the gov may push in that direction. any, big or small, if they want it - they do it.. but they probably won't .

[PrivacyG]

I do not know if the kidnapping itself is an attack against Bitcoin or the kidnap is rather being used as a reason to attack it.  The way News articles write about it and about how useful Blockchain Analysis and Know Your Customer is, it is kind of dubious.

Reform could be asked for.  My fear is a coin freeze proposal that gets legs and is done in the USA.

Do you fear they may try to do this reform on the Blockchain level?  I doubt this would pass.  Or I doubt that version of Bitcoin will survive with out ending up like Bitcoin Cash or worse.

[NotATether]

i too don't understand why this specific case would be the "last straw".. any case at this point may be a case that the gov may push in that direction. any, big or small, if they want it - they do it.. but they probably won't .

I'm going to take a wild guess (depressingly, I'll probably be right) - perhaps because it involves a famous person.

[promise444c5]

First of all, I have not found any valid news that the kidnappers demanded ransom in the form of BTC.

Here you go:
Nancy Guthries family faces 6 million bitcoin ransom demand
Update:
FBI says no suspects, no communication as Nancy Guthrie ransom deadline passes with no proof of life

It is confirmed the kidnapping truly happened. The ransom should be paid in a way that ones it is paid, all bitcoin should be freezes to be tracked in less than an hour. I don't mind if no transaction is halt in the network for an hour.

That can happen ‘the freeze’, only if they dump it on an exchange or converted to a coin that allows that after receiving the ransom. Apart from that there’s nothing like freezing on-chain  and the transactions can’t be halt for such reason.

[suzanne5223]

We can consider this as an attack on BTC just to paint Bitcoin as a means of payment for illicit, and if the payment was made to the kidnappers, whose aim was to extort the family, it will give a lot of BTC haters the chance to make more negative statements about BTC.
Nevertheless, I am surprised that the Nancy Guthrie family didn't pay the ransom after publicly stating they were willing to pay for her safe return, and it is possible that the FBI has gotten a good hint in the case, which is why they did pay the ransom, since much information is yet to be made public about the case.

[goldkingcoiner]

Why would the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie be considered an attack against BTC? That's like asking if any other kidnapping for financial extortion can be attributed to the currency itself.

If that was the case then we would have seen fiat be blamed for 99% of the historic kidnappings all over the world.

[shield132]

Why would it be? This is not the biggest ransom or death that involves Bitcoin or Monero? It may be the highest profile case in the US, but worldwide it is insignificant and nothing new.

At first I was shocked that this became so popular news because there is nothing spectacular there and such kidnapps happen often without gaining any attention but I guess, this case became high profile because Savannah Guthrie is a co-anchor of NBC's "TODAY" show and since she is famous, it reached to the White House and then President Donald Trump expressed his support for the family and offered federal assitance and in the end, it became a high profile case.

Some people are mistaken and believe that it only involves the ability to use some tools like mixers, but that is not true. This involves deep knowledge against de-anonymization attacks and countermeasures. A whole deal of tools would have to be used in order to cover this up and get away with it, especially when so much attention is given to the case by the US. The number of people who could execute this and not get caught is rather limited.

Since the kidnapper asks for Bitcoin instead of Monero, I'm sure that he doesn't know how to protect his privacy well, so even if he gets paid $6 million Bitcoin, I predict that he will be exposed the moment he tries to withdraw his money.

[Reatim]

My guess is the kidnapping happened and they think they can clean the BTC.

i think that the kidnapper/s just want money just like any other kidnapping case out there but they probably thought that they are so clever for asking for bitcoin and think that they can get away with the money without ever being traced

[davis196]

This kidnapping could mean a call to be able to freeze BTC. It certainly will damage BTC if the ranson is paid and if the kidnappers are never caught.

It will also likely hurt monero and mixers if the btc get vanished and cleaned.

So it will hurt BTC for sure , but I do not know if the kidnappers just want BTC or if there is no kidnapping and it is a plot to hurt crypto.

My guess is the kidnapping happened and they think they can clean the BTC.

If the kidnapping of Nancie Guthrie was an attack on BTC, then the Bitcoin price would collapse. I don't think that the kidnappers would be happy to receive a six million worth of BTC, that might lose it's value in the next few weeks. I can agree that such criminal case damages the reputation of Bitcoin across the people, who know very little about BTC and crypto. I don't care about Monero and the BTC mixers. The right thing to do is to never pay the ransom, despite what might happen to Nancy Guthrie. Paying ransoms to kidnappers would only cause more and more kidnappings to occur, because more criminals will get motivated to kidnap people and make easy money.

[john_egbert]

i too don't understand why this specific case would be the "last straw".. any case at this point may be a case that the gov may push in that direction. any, big or small, if they want it - they do it.. but they probably won't .

I'm going to take a wild guess (depressingly, I'll probably be right) - perhaps because it involves a famous person.

yep, as i read in the thread, it's someone from the news sphere.. i hope we won't see the levers moving in that direction, i mean, tightening due to such a situation happening.

[sleepfirefly]

i too don't understand why this specific case would be the "last straw".. any case at this point may be a case that the gov may push in that direction. any, big or small, if they want it - they do it.. but they probably won't .

I'm going to take a wild guess (depressingly, I'll probably be right) - perhaps because it involves a famous person.

her kids are the well known ones. she has children that are journalists and tv anchors so it is quite a big deal because of course her kids would want to know her whereabouts and they would have this publicized to reach maybe her kidnapper or herself. i believe she was also an author. there were kidnapping cases from before as well and i believe they were talked about a lot but those weren't in the us which is why maybe it didn't reach a wider audience than this news. hopefully she is safe.

[avp2306]

Why would the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie be considered an attack against BTC? That's like asking if any other kidnapping for financial extortion can be attributed to the currency itself.

If that was the case then we would have seen fiat be blamed for 99% of the historic kidnappings all over the world.

Agree, because blaming Bitcoin for the kidnapping incident does not actually have any sense. What happen to Nancy Guthrie is provably a another act of extortion, I don't get it why Bitcoin question about this incident happened. Fiat also been used for many times as being ransom money in history.

Bitcoin happens to be a chosen currency, because those criminals can easily transfer those funds without giving any hint about their identities. Real issue here is the criminal behavior and they should focus on how to enforce the law and arrest those criminals involve in those cases.

[purple_sparkles]

This kidnapping could mean a call to be able to freeze BTC. It certainly will damage BTC if the ranson is paid and if the kidnappers are never caught.

It will also likely hurt monero and mixers if the btc get vanished and cleaned.

So it will hurt BTC for sure , but I do not know if the kidnappers just want BTC or if there is no kidnapping and it is a plot to hurt crypto.

My guess is the kidnapping happened and they think they can clean the BTC.

If the kidnapping of Nancie Guthrie was an attack on BTC, then the Bitcoin price would collapse. I don't think that the kidnappers would be happy to receive a six million worth of BTC, that might lose it's value in the next few weeks. I can agree that such criminal case damages the reputation of Bitcoin across the people, who know very little about BTC and crypto. I don't care about Monero and the BTC mixers. The right thing to do is to never pay the ransom, despite what might happen to Nancy Guthrie. Paying ransoms to kidnappers would only cause more and more kidnappings to occur, because more criminals will get motivated to kidnap people and make easy money.

Nothing in the world is more valuable than life. Money can be earned again, kidnappers can be caught, a reputation can be restored, but no one has learned how to bring a life back. That’s why, no matter what, the most important thing is to ensure that, in our case, Nancy returns safe and unharmed. Everything else will find a way to be resolved.I don’t think this will radically change attitudes toward Bitcoin, Monero, or mixers. We live in a time when news can be manipulated, twisted, and used for advantage. So those who have the ability to create and manage something on a large scale will likely find a way to benefit from the situation in any case.

[The Cryptovator]

This kidnapping could mean a call to be able to freeze BTC. It certainly will damage BTC if the ranson is paid and if the kidnappers are never caught.

It will also likely hurt monero and mixers if the btc get vanished and cleaned.

So it will hurt BTC for sure , but I do not know if the kidnappers just want BTC or if there is no kidnapping and it is a plot to hurt crypto.

My guess is the kidnapping happened and they think they can clean the BTC.

Criminals often should be treated as criminals; either they get ransom through crypto or fiat. A lot of kidnapping happens every day, but most of the time it highlights when ransom gets through Bitcoin or crypto. This is mainly promoted to disparage crypto by Bitcoin heaters. However, if kidnappers take ransom through Bitcoin, then they could easily clean their coins through mixers or various platforms.

Kidnappers not only think about cleaning Bitcoin, but also it's hard to trace when the ransom is sent to a crypto address. There is no physical presence, which means it's hard to find criminals as well. But comparing fiat and crypto ransoms, fiat will still be the bigger picture. But haters often blame crypto; instead, think about how to prevent kidnappers.

[john_egbert]

i too don't understand why this specific case would be the "last straw".. any case at this point may be a case that the gov may push in that direction. any, big or small, if they want it - they do it.. but they probably won't .

I'm going to take a wild guess (depressingly, I'll probably be right) - perhaps because it involves a famous person.

her kids are the well known ones. she has children that are journalists and tv anchors so it is quite a big deal because of course her kids would want to know her whereabouts and they would have this publicized to reach maybe her kidnapper or herself. i believe she was also an author. there were kidnapping cases from before as well and i believe they were talked about a lot but those weren't in the us which is why maybe it didn't reach a wider audience than this news. hopefully she is safe.

she wasn't found yet, but the case is moving, as far as i saw in another thread.

[r_victory]

I'm sorry, but I still don't understand the connection between BTC and the kidnapping of the victim in question. If it's only because they're asking for ransom in cryptocurrencies, I don't see it as a threat to Bitcoin, however worrying it may be; cryptocurrencies have become the best option for criminals.

I receive emails weekly (I believe many here have received the same type of email) that go straight to the spam folder, saying they have compromising images of me accessing a pornographic website and masturbating, and that if I don't pay they will spread it to my contact list, and guess what form of payment they demand?

In ransomware attacks, the form of payment is the same, and I don't know when it started, but I remember cases from 2017, so I ask, what has happened to Bitcoin since then? It has grown in value and adoption, in addition to victories in terms of acceptance and regulation, taking it to higher levels as an investment asset.

These are criminals trying to avoid being tracked. They must have been scouting the victim's house, saw that it was a vulnerable person, an easy target, and attacked. That's all; it's not a direct attack on Bitcoin, like a conspiracy...