The latest casualty in the spate of violent ransom attacks on crypto leaders is Dean Skurka, CEO of Canadian cryptocurrency firm WonderFi. Reports indicate that Skurka was taken at rush hour Wednesday and put into a car before being forced to transfer CAD 1 million to his captors. Skurka was released without harm, according to reports with CBC.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of a growing wave of violent crimes against cryptocurrency executives. A security firm told CBC that Skurka’s case is the 171st such case of physical violence linked to crypto theft. Such crimes continue to rise with the increasing value and popularity of digital currencies, positioning industry leaders at higher risk.
It’s rather odd that the attack happened just one day after WonderFi reported its third-quarter financial result, showing nine months of revenue at CAD 41 million. That is an incredible performance and proves that this indeed is the biggest in Canada’s crypto space. Furthermore, the attack occurred at the time when Bitcoin added yet another milestone to the cryptocurrency, as it reached a historic high of over $76,000.
The company, WonderFi, has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from some of the most high-profile investors in the world, including Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary, and seemed to explode out of nowhere. But its success in the wild crypto market may have left its leadership more vulnerable to targeted attacks.
Relief was supposed to come in the form of Skurka’s safe release, but what is thrown out of this incident is a very disturbing trend. As digital assets’ prices go up, the risk does as well for those at the helm of crypto firms. Now, experts are calling for enhanced security protocols that will ensure the safety of execs and investors from such threats.
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