The recent abduction of UK-based Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Exchange Exmo Operator Pavel Lerner has demonstrated the importance of financial privacy for cryptocurrency users.

] Earlier this week, BBC is reported that Lerner kidnapped outside of his office in Kiev, Ukraine, on Dec. 28, by a group of individuals who dragged him to a knife point to a black Mercedes and drove off the scene. At the time, Anatoliy Larin, the spokesperson of the exchange, stated:

"Despite the situation, the exchange is working as usual." We also want to stress that nature of Pavel's job at Exmo doesn "

Within the Limer, Financial Times Revealed Lerner has paid more than $ 1 mln to an armed gang as a price for his freedom. The advisor to the Ukrainian interior minister Anton Gerashchenko told FT:

"He was kidnapped by an armed gang for the purpose of extorting Bitcoins. We have operative information that he paid more than $ 1 mln worth of Bitcoins. [After one and a half days, he was] then released in a state of shock. …

The Ukrainian National Police has opened a criminal case to investigate into the abduction of Lerner and to disclose the identities behind the attack.

While Exmo is a small Bitcoin exchange with only 94,000 active investors and a $ 125 mln Bithumb, Coinbase's GDAX and Bitfinex, both the company and the Ukrainian authorities believe that Lerner became a <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>

Over the past 12 months, the price of Bitcoin has surged from $ 900 to $ 14,000, by nearly 14,000 percent.

Lead Developer Riccardo Spagni, FluffyPony,

He noted the importance of financial privacy in the public domain.

In January 2017, when he gave the talk to Coinbase employees, FluffyPony jokingly stated that it was possible for the world to buy a large amount of money

If we do not-have financial privacy, there are bad Things That can happen. We could end up with advertising based on spending habits. [Another example is] targeted crime against the wealthy. You're going to a local Bitcoin exchange and next minute you're held up at knife point. Even worse, you go with Bitcoin for an item and now, the owner knows your bank balance, "said FluffyPony.

Dumbfoundingly, FluffyPony's statement became a reality in Kiev, Ukraine, as Lerner became a direct target of an army gang with a pre-established plan of extorting ransom in the

However, the lack of privacy measures in Bitcoin also caused the crime that Lerner can not easily spend the money can be traced by Bitcoin Blockchain.