Cryptocurrency company executives and other investors with significant wealth from cryptocurrency assets are taking personal security more seriously, according to articles published this weekend in the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.
While cryptocurrencies have always posed unique security risks, there appears to be a growing threat of violent theft due to the rising value of bitcoin, as well as new concerns following the recent Coinbase hack that exposed personal information of customers. (Coinbase said the hack affected less than 1% of its customers.)
For example, three masked men recently attempted to kidnap the daughter and granddaughter of the CEO of French cryptocurrency company Paymium, but were chased away by the family’s neighbors.
Jethro Peilman, who works for Amsterdam-based security and intelligence firm Infinite Risks International, told Bloomberg that his team is seeing “more inquiries, more long-term clients, and more proactive inquiries from crypto investors who don’t want to be caught off guard.”
Meanwhile, Coinbase revealed in a regulatory filing that it spent $6.2 million on the personal security of its CEO Brian Armstrong last year – more than the combined security spending of the CEOs of JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Nvidia.
