The kidnappers of Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, the wife of the Norwegian billionaire Tom Hagen, are demanding a ransom to be paid in Monero (XMR). Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen has been missing since October 2018. The information was released by the local newspapers Romerikes Blad and VG a few days ago.
Kidnappers Want Monero Ransom
Apparently, the kidnappers of Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen are asking for Monero (XMR) to set her free. The newspapers informed that the kidnappers are demanding for nine million euros – close to $10.3 million.
According to a source cited by the news outlet VG, the police were able to contact people claiming to be the kidnappers. Nevertheless, the dialogue has been limited and they need to confirm the authenticity of these discussions.
Monero is one of the most popular digital assets in the market. This cryptocurrency allows users to send and receive private transactions. With Bitcoin (BTC) all the information about the funds transacted and the addresses are public. However, Monero protects users’ privacy by hiding the transaction history. That means that Monero is a better option for criminals than other digital assets that allow everyone to see the funds transacted and from and to which wallet the funds are sent.
Tom Hagen is the 172nd richest person in Norway, according to a list released by the financial newspaper Kapital. According to this report, Hagan has more than 1.7 billion Norwegian Krone, equal to $200 million. He was able to make this amount of money after speculating in the electricity and energy market. Hagen has been threatened not to contact the media or law enforcement agents about the information received.
This is not the first time that kidnappers ask cryptocurrencies to release a hostage. Back in May 2018, a South African kid called Katlego Marite was kidnapped by a group of individuals in the country. The captors were asking for 15 Bitcoin to be paid in a short period of time before releasing him. The kid was found unharmed and in good conditions by the local police.
At the time of writing this article, Monero is the 13th largest digital asset in the market. It has a market capitalization of $880 and each coin can be purchased for $52.
Read More Beyond The Monero Ransom News
Monero is one of the most exciting blockchain and cryptocurrency projects out there. As we wrote, Monero XMR is the best privacy coin on the market right now. You can read about Monero’s bulletproof update and our Monero XMR Price Prediction article as well.
Learn how to store XMR on Ledger, or use Binance or Anycoin to buy or trade for XMR.
