For some Brazilian whales and cryptocurrency investors, the best defense against crypto theft is not just a secure password, but an actual vault.
To secure their digital assets, Brazilian residents have turned towards private companies that offer secure vaults for storage of their assets. Once a dead industry, the rising theft of cryptocurrencies has forced holders to shift their assets to cold storages and place them inside the safes.
Several companies are offering their services for vulnerable cryptocurrency investors in the country. Some of the features seem to come from a Mission Impossible movie. The vaults are kept secure through seven armored and reinforced steel doors. The doors themselves can only be accessed through a combination of biometrics of authorized persons only. There are palm scanners that read up to an immense 5 million individual points on the hand and then inspects the blood flow through infrared waves.
Packages may range from less than $50 to hundreds of dollars per month depending on the type of service. The packages seem to have a pretty steep price, but crypto thieves are becoming more daring in order to get their hands on cryptocurrencies. On 29 December last year, the owner of KriptoBR’s home was raided by dacoits who took away 150 units of Ledger Nano S and 35 Trezor Model T. KriptoBR is the official vendor of the hardware wallets in Brazil.
While normally stealing cryptos require knowledge of computer systems in order to hack, the thieves are now turning towards traditional methods of extorting money. This includes kidnapping and torturing known cryptocurrency holders until they give in and hand over their private keys.
Early last December, a group had called upon a known Bitcoin investor to visit and give a lecture on cryptocurrencies. That was a ruse and they drugged and beat him nearly to death in order to steal his Bitcoin.
