Bitcoin ransoms just are not what they used to be

The people behind a rash of bomb threats made across the United States and Canada on Thursday demanded a $20,000 ransom to be paid in bitcoin. Authorities said none of the threats - emailed to hundreds of businesses, public offices, and schools - appeared credible.

Frankly, the perpetrators would have been better off asking for the Turkish lira.



Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have long been a favorite ransom tender for cybercriminals thanks to the currencies’ anonymous nature. US cybersecurity firm Chainalysis estimates that from 2012 through 2017, global ransom payments using bitcoin totaled at least $31 million.

Anonymity aside, of course, the big appeal was an incredible run-up in bitcoin’s value over that time. It shot from $5 a coin at the start of 2012 to nearly $20,000 at this time last year, according to data from Bitstamp, one of the larger bitcoin exchanges.



Today? Not so hot.

Bitcoin on Thursday was trading at around $3,250, down more than 80 per cent from its record high. In the last three months alone it has plunged 50 per cent.

Even the currencies of some crisis-hit economies like Turkey have done better: The lira is up 30 per cent since August.