Remember a while back when there was a Bitcoin blowtorch hostage situation? If you thought that was crazy, this recent situation will baffle you on numerous levels. 

Let's start off with the ransom demand and threats from the kidnappers: "We set price to $5million.. If you can't meet our requirements we cut your boy up bit by bit until you give us what we want,' the alleged texts said, according to court documents...Want his body in pieces? Get the $5million ready...You have 24 hours to cough up something nice. We waiting, times ticking."

"Your boy" is referring the the hostage Peter Vuong and the message is directed at Tran Dinh. So apparently this guy named Tran Dinh is a crypto trader who's associate (the hostage Peter Vuong) is involved with someone who shills overprice junk to people. She was at home with him when he was kidnapped, not really important details, but it just adds levels to this. Because it was eventually the associate of Dinh who was the victim of this gruesome hostage situation and not because of his own wealth or his influencer girlfriend, but because of someone he works with/for who happens to be a well known crypto whale. 

"the alleged attackers displayed an extreme level of violence...Firearms were used, sledgehammers were used, the male was tortured. He had his teeth physically removed by these people."

I know the note says "24 hours", but the whole situation lasted a grand total of six whole days in which he was beaten, tortured, had several teeth removed and was photographed like that in order to help convince Dinh to pay the ransom. He was eventually found and rescued by the police who also arrested several of the kidnappers.

Now I have to clarify, the hostage takers were not specifically demanding Bitcoin or crypto, they just stated to want "5 million (Australian?) Dollars" for his release. The crypto whale in question Tran Dinh who appeared to be the actual target of this insanity has now left Australia out of fear for his safety, but this raises the crucial question: How safe are the people around you if you are a rich crypto whale? It's not as if the hostage or his influencer girlfriend weren't well off themselves right? But it was eventually the well known crypto trader who caught the hostage takers' attention and helped them set the mark at 5 million Dollars I reckon.

Like I concluded before in the blowtorch story, we are not "criminals" for using Tornado Cash or Monero or ZCash, we mostly do so to protect ourselves from criminals. Whether they hold blowtorches or pens to write ludicrous laws. But little did I know how accurate that line would be for the very next hostage situation I would read about. You see, all of this unfolded due to the help of a government employee with access to personal data of the victims which she forwarded to the kidnappers.

"Sira Elkheir, a New South Wales government agency employee, appeared at Burwood local court on Thursday...Elkheir, 21, was arrested in Greenacre on Wednesday... has been accused of illegally accessing Traffic for NSW data and then passing these details on to the alleged kidnappers prior to Vuong being abducted."

Was she in on it, did she sell the info to them, who knows, the point is privacy is a fundamental right and it's one which we often allow to be taken from us without a proper fight and some even throw it away on their own free will and then later on get shocked when the consequences come knocking. This is in no way laying any blame on the victims of course, they have every right to be in the spotlight and no one other than those who plotted and carried out this heinous act are to blame for what happened. But you know the saying "speech is silver, silence is gold"? It works on numerous aspects in life, your financial status as well.