Overview

• New York police have charged two people in connection with the kidnapping and torture of an Italian man inside a Manhattan home to force him to surrender his bitcoin
• Authorities have not disclosed the amount of bitcoin targeted in the attack
• Phil Ariss of crypto tracing firm TRM Labs says the assaults are rising as digital currencies gain mainstream acceptance and stolen funds become unrecoverable
• At least one similar incident in France saw thieves sever a crypto executive’s finger in an attempt to force access to his digital wallet
• Experts advise using multi-signature wallets and maintaining anonymity to reduce the risk of coercive theft