6 Jun, 2015 08:10

2 gunmen rob NYC man of $1,100 worth of bitcoins

Two men have held a New York City resident at gunpoint, robbing him of $1,100 in bitcoins on the street, police said.

The 28-year-old victim arranged to meet with someone who reportedly wanted to buy the online currency, The New York Post reported.

The two met, and the alleged buyer asked the victim to come to his car, a silver Honda.

However, once they were inside the car, a second man threatened the victim with a gun forced him to transfer the bitcoins online, and hand over his cell phone.

"It's still under investigation," a police spokeswoman told CNBC. She added that there was no surveillance video footage of the virtual money stickup available.

In February, a bitcoin dealer named Dean Katz told the New York Observer how he had been mugged at gunpoint by a man who had arranged to meet him to buy bitcoins, so the man could gamble on the Super Bowl.

According to Katz, he was forced to transfer $8,500 worth of bitcoin, and was also robbed of $3,500 in cash.

The news about the latest virtual bitcoin robbery also follows a major bitcoin scandal: in March, two federal agents were detained for appropriating bitcoins for their personal use during the investigation of Silk Road, an online black market for drugs, weapons, in exchange for bitcoins.

Last week, Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the website, which he ran under the nickname Dread Pirate Roberts, was sentenced to life behind bars.

The business brought him around $1.2 billion, according to the FBI.

You can share this story on social media:

Follow RT on