In brief

  • A group of Pakistani residents took five foreigners hostage to extort Bitcoin from them.
  • The victims were ultimately forced to transfer $93,000 worth of BTC to the suspects.
  • This was the first Bitcoin robbery in Pakistan.

At least three Pakistan residents took several foreign nationals hostage and extorted roughly $93,000 worth of Bitcoin (BTC) in what was the first-ever armed crypto robbery in the country, Geo Newsreported today.

Per the publication, two suspects were arrested in the Pakistani city Gujranwala. Another suspect, who is reportedly still at large, was named as the prime suspect because he allegedly invited the foreign nationals to Lahore to “make an investment.”

Under the guise of offering a ride “to show them the city,” the suspects allegedly kidnapped five foreign nationals, including one from Germany and one from Switzerland, at gunpoint.

To add insult to injury, the suspects also reportedly sprinkled some heroin on their victims, threatening to report them as drug dealers.

Crypto exchange Kraken has awarded BTCPay $150K. The grant is the largest to date for the payments processor, which is also supported by Square Crypto.
Bitcoin is the number one digital currency by market cap. Image: Shutterstock.

As a result, the robbers forced the hostages to transfer 14.7 million Pakistani rupees—or $93,000—worth of Bitcoin to their account.

According to the police, the suspects were ultimately tracked down by their vehicle’s plate numbers.

As Decrypt reported, a group of men reportedly stole over $500,000 from a woman who traded cryptocurrency in Hong Kong in mid-January.

Prior to that, a 37-year-old Bitcoin seller also fell victim to robbers in Hong Kong, losing about three million yuan ($461,000) in cash.