Swedish Bitcoiners focused by armed criminals

Criminals in Sweden are particularly concentrating on distinguished native Bitcoin figures, which seems to be the results of the benefit of entry to private data and residential addresses within the nation.

Reviews from Swedish media shops LT and Aftonbladet have linked separate robberies in Rönninge and Södertälje that seem to have occurred beneath the identical modus operandi. Victims have been tied up and bodily abused to steal bodily and digital Bitcoin (BTC) holdings.

Distinguished cryptocurrency proponent Eric Wall, who at the moment serves as a StarkNet Basis board member, highlighted the incidents in an X put up (previously Twitter). Wall mentioned the 2 assault instances point out that Swedish criminals are actively trying to goal Bitcoin customers.

there’s now formally a state of affairs in sweden

this monday, a middle-aged swedish couple was tied up of their dwelling and robbed by 4 masked males. they have been bodily abused and threatened with their very own kitchen knives. they have been tied up for hours and one needed to be escorted to the…

— Eric Wall (@ercwl) November 8, 2023

“This Monday, a middle-aged Swedish couple was tied up of their dwelling and robbed by 4 masked males. They have been bodily abused and threatened with their very own kitchen knives. They have been tied up for hours and one needed to be escorted to the hospital by way of helicopter,” Wall wrote.

He famous that the aim of the assault was to steal the couple’s Bitcoin earlier than highlighting the hyperlink to a separate incident the place “two well-known Bitcoin/crypto profiles have been focused of their properties by masked, armed males.”

In keeping with Wall, the victims have been subjected to violent bodily abuse for hours in an effort to steal their Bitcoin holdings held in {hardware} wallets. He added that the primary incident of criminals concentrating on Bitcoin customers passed off in 2022, when “one among Sweden’s most well-known Bitcoiners” had their residence damaged into.

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Wall additionally believes criminals scour social media to establish and goal Bitcoin or cryptocurrency customers. He claims {that a} widespread theme of the assaults was that they passed off shortly after people had livestreamed podcasts centered on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies or talked about the topic in public.

He additionally believes that Sweden’s Offentlighetsprincipen (Precept of Public Entry to Data) legal guidelines, which give the general public the appropriate to request data, together with residential addresses and tax information from the federal government, have gotten a way for criminals to prey on ecosystem contributors.

“Whereas the intention behind this laws was to scale back corruption, it isn’t match for contemporary society.”

Wall added that he left the nation on account of these legal guidelines and that Sweden “might be one of many least secure nations to be lively within the cryptocurrency sector.”

The Offentlighetsprincipen regulation additionally reportedly makes it straightforward for residents to seek for Swedish residents’ addresses in addition to scour their tax information. That is being abused, as criminals can confirm how a lot a person has paid in earnings or capital good points tax and “measurement them up” in consequence.

Cointelegraph has reached out to the Swedish Police Authority to determine additional particulars of those incidents and if any arrests have been made.

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