Crypto’s unprecedented growth in 2024 has been accompanied by a surge in criminal activity, including kidnappings, extortion, and ransomware attacks targeting traders and investors.

Key incidents include a dramatic case in France, where police rescued a man from a car trunk after his captors demanded ransom from his son, a crypto influencer in Dubai. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, a crypto trader was kidnapped and forced to transfer $340,000 via Binance. Seven suspects, including a Counter-Terrorism Department officer, were arrested.

Similar crimes were reported in Australia, where a Saudi royal was ambushed and extorted for $40,000 in Bitcoin, and Canada, where Dean Skurka, CEO of WonderFi, was kidnapped and released after a $1 million ransom payment.

Adding to concerns, ransomware gangs extorted over $1.1 billion in crypto payments in 2023, underscoring the rising risks faced by crypto market participants. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis warned that the increasing sophistication of ransomware operations makes tracking these incidents even more difficult.