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.