The kidnapping of Pavel Lerner, director of the British exchange bureau Exmo, was recently reported. The event took place in the Ukrainian town of Kiev, where the Russian businessman was based.

The renowned specialist and researcher in the area of cryptocurrencies and distributed accounting technology was working in Ukraine. According to a local media that reviewed the Kiev police report, the kidnapping was carried out at about noon on Tuesday, as reported by acquaintances of the businessman who noticed his absence during the night.

According to statements made by the Obolonsky district police, the incident took place near offices on Stepán Bandera Street where Lerner was working. The expert in cryptocurrencies was forced to enter a Mercedes-Benz car, model Vito, by subjects dressed in black and hidden behind ski mask, who disappeared from the area taking it to a destination still unknown by the authorities.

The same day today, spokespersons of the team of Exmo expressed their concern for the director whose whereabouts remain unknown. Likewise, they affirmed that the company's operations were not affected and that customers can remain calm, as the kidnappers do not have access to private keys to the company's wallets with cryptocurrencies, nor to the personal data of users.

Lerner is a 40-year-old Russian citizen from the border town of Kursk and holds a residence permit in Ukraine. He has also resided in Spain, as can be read on his social networks. The police in charge of the case are actively investigating the employer's whereabouts and in their media report they published the license plate number of the vehicle used to execute this act.

This is not the first case that links cryptocurrencies to crimes outside the cyber environment. In early November, the streets of New York City witnessed the theft of 1.8 million Ether. The crime was committed by two criminals. One of them, who carried a firearm, forced his victim into a vehicle.

aBoth were aware that the affected person possessed nearly two million dollars in cryptocurrencies. For this reason, before the victim jumped out of the vehicle, the assailants managed to get hold of his cell phone, wallet and keys to his apartment. As a result, the perpetrators were able to violate the computer security of the affected person and appropriated the above-mentioned amount of cryptocurrencies.

The authorities have expressed concern about this fact, as they believe that as the price of cryptocurrencies increases and their popularity increases, not only will cybercriminals become interested in obtaining illicit profits related to this medium, but, as in this case, this technology may become a new motive for street crimes.