According to a report by CBC on Nov. 7, the CEO of Toronto-based crypto company WonderFi Technologies was allegedly kidnapped. He was forced to pay off $1 million for his kidnappers to release him. The claim was that Dean Skurka was kidnapped on Nov. 6 during rush hour in downtown Toronto. Sources close to the investigation revealed that Skurka was forced into a vehicle; subsequently making an electronic transfer of $1 million to secure his freedom.
Skurka later confirmed the incident in an email. He confirmed he was “safe” and assured that no company funds or data had been impacted. He mentioned that the event took place on November 6 and did not affect WonderFi’s operations.
The police investigation is still ongoing, but no further details have been released. WonderFi and Skurka have not publicly commented on the situation through their website or social media platforms.
Unfortunately, the crypto world is not fully safe from scams and frauds. Nevertheless, it does not come entirely from the hands of criminals; instead, sometimes, investors and CEOs of those companies also scam people. Read everything about the biggest crypto court cases in detail.
Rising Trend of Crypto Executive Kidnappings and the Growing Risk for Major Crypto Firms
The incident forms part of an emerging trend in the use of crypto executives and influencers for abduction. Many such kidnappings have happened for attempts to steal huge amounts of money. In July, four people were arrested in Ukraine after allegedly kidnapping a 29-year-old Bitcoiner. Unfortunately, they murdered him, and got away with $170,000 worth of Bitcoin. The other incident occurred in August when six Malaysians were accused of kidnapping a Chinese national: they demanded a $1 million ransom in the stablecoin Tether.
One of the biggest cryptocurrency firms in Canada, WonderFi Technologies, is openly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange with the symbol WNDR. Based on statistics from Google Finance, its market value is presently $75 million. The company is into developing, investing in, and incubation of both centralized exchanges and decentralized protocols. Its product suite includes popular products like the WonderFi layer 2 blockchain and the non-custodial WonderFi Wallet.
In its most recent statement from October 30, WonderFi revealed that it holds $1.35 billion in assets under custody. The company also owns several crypto businesses, including Coinsquare, SmartPay, Tetra Trust, and Bitbuy, a crypto exchange where Skurka served as president until July 2023.
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