Skycoin, one of the biggest upcoming cryptocurrencies on the market, was just dealt a heavy blow after members of the company's team kidnapped and attempted to steal the life saving's of the company's founder, Synth.

Skycoin, a cryptocurrency which claims to have the most advanced blockchain technology on the market today, just announced that their founder was taken hostage and robbed by members of their team.

The world of cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency exchange is still a bit of a Wild West for many. Although the hype around cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin has calmed as of late, thousands of questionable or downright fraudulent coins continue to hop on the crypto-bandwagon. A few make a fortune. Many lose large portions of their life savings in the chaos of the crypto market.

Now, after recently making headlines due to a case of mass insider trading, Skycoin is once again in trouble after their founder and CEO was held hostage by members of the Skycoin team.

On June 13th, nine members of the company’s Asian marketing team broke into the home of Synth, the founder of the Skycoin currency. Then, in an effort to seize his stake in Skycoin’s holdings, the group tied up and beat both Synth and his wife.

The nine individuals only managed to seize 18.88 Bitcoin and 6466 Skycoins during the robbery and were quickly identified after the event.

The ramifications of this event for both Skycoin and the reputation of the cryptocurrency market in general are yet to be seen, but it’s certain that the company will struggle to retain interest and support in the cryptocurrency market.

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Skycoin was originally established to create a truly decentralized and open blockchain system. The company claims that it was:

“Developed by early contributors to both Bitcoin and Ethereum, Skycoin’s platform is completely secure, infinitely scalable, and ISP independent. Backed by bandwidth, storage, and computational power Skycoin is built to fulfill Satoshi’s original vision.”

Along with providing a cryptocurrency platform and a new form of blockchain technology, the company is also launching their own decentralized internet platform and affordable skycurrency miner.

The internet hype for this coin has been substantial, with waitlists for the Skyminer alone now being anywhere from four to six months. Claiming to provide everything that crypto fans have been waiting for, it may have just been too good to be true.

Although a hopeful cryptocurrency which has been optimistically discussed in articles from Forbes to Nasdaq, this may be a fatal PR blow to the coin’s future.

In the last month, Skycoin has seen a devaluation from $34 USD per coin down to just $6. Skycoin may have become another casualty in the subjective and often turbulent cryptomarket that has left countless other hopeful startups and crypto foundations defunct.