Crypto Millionaires Beware: The Dark Side of Digital Wealth

From kidnappings to grim headlines—does sudden crypto fortune come with a target on your back?

We’ve all seen the stories: Lamborghinis bought at ATH, then bankruptcy filings weeks later. But the so-called ’crypto curse’ cuts deeper than reckless spending.

The real price of fame? When your blockchain bounty becomes public—thanks to those pesky transparent ledgers—you might attract more than just tax authorities.

Sure, traditional finance has its Bernie Madoffs. But in crypto, even the winners sometimes lose... permanently.

Kidnaps, suicides, and mishaps in the crypto industry

Earlier this week, the crypto industry woke up to the sad news of an attempted kidnapping involving the daughter and two-year-old grandchild of a major crypto firm executive. The pair were walking down Rue Pache in Paris when three armed men approached her and tried to force her and her toddler into a WHITE van. During the scuffle, the father of the toddler tried to intervene, but was hit.

According to a clip by one of the onlookers from the window of his apartment, the woman grabbed a handgun belonging to one of the attackers as they were attacking her husband before throwing it away.

In the clip, the father was yelling, “Help, she is pregnant!” with the scream already attracting attention. The attackers, upon realizing this, entered their van and zoomed off. Although passers-by tried to attack the vehicle, they were only able to make a dent on it with a fire extinguisher.

After investigations by authorities in Paris, initial findings revealed that the woman and the toddler were the daughter and grandson of Pierre Noizat, the co-founder of Paymium, a French crypto exchange platform founded in 2011.

While the company describes itself as a pioneer in the crypto industry, the fortune of its co-founder is not publicly known. According to a witness who was interviewed, she heard the screams from the victims and went out to check. She mentioned that she only saw hooded men trying to run away while seeing another bloodied man lying on the ground.

Another incident that occurred in 2022 saw a crypto millionaire take his life by jumping from the fifth floor of a hotel. Javier Biosca was said to have made his millions from scams, swindling more than 300 Spanish investors.

Reports claim that he was threatened by several international mafias before he committed suicide. He presented himself as a professional, lying that he could increase their investment by 25% to 30% every week. His lies didn’t run for too long as the crypto market crashed, causing his investments to drop heavily.

In the same year, Russian entrepreneur Vyacheslav Taran died in an air crash, with his helicopter crashing NEAR the resort town of Villefranche-sur-Mer after taking off from Lausanne in Switzerland. The crash was said to have happened in good, clear weather, heaping more mystery on the situation surrounding his death.

Before his death, he was the co-founder of investment platform Libertex and Forex Club. He was said to have been flying with an experienced pilot in a single-engine helicopter when it crashed on November 25.

In 2022, Nikolai Mushegian drowned on a beach in Puerto Rico after tweeting that he feared the CIA and Mossad were coming after him. He died on October 28, hours after posting his last tweet. The young crypto millionaire had a history of mental health problems, and his family, at the time of his death, didn’t suspect any foul play.

“They are going to frame me with a laptop planted by my ex [ex-girlfriend], who was a spy. They will torture me to death,” he said. After his death, one of his friends said his paranoia was based on facts, noting that he was chasing things beyond the ordinary, where he discovered things.

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