- Monero loses nearly 10% of its value amid massive sell-off.
- Kidnappers demand $10 million to be paid in Monero.
Monero (XMR) crashed from $53.30 to as low as $47.27 within a couple of hours amid global cryptocurrency sell-off. The coin is down nearly 10% since this time on Wednesday, trading at $48.56 at the time of writing.
XMR/USD has stabilized after an initial sell-off, but the downside traction may be resumed if the coin fails to recover above $50.00 handle anytime soon. While the downside was caused mostly by technical factors, Monero is not in the best position for growth now.
Norwegian police released the news that Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, the wife of one of the richest Norway men was kidnapped from her house in Oslo. The kidnappers want to get $10 million paid in Monero. The woman got missing at the end of October, but the news made public only now, 10 weeks after the incident.
It is not clear whether Tom Hagen, her husband and the owner of Norwegian power supply company Elkraft will pay the ransom, but this case is likely to worsen the reputation of Monero as a coin of criminals and kidnappers. Beware of Monero volatility and increased scrutiny from governments and law enforcement agencies.
XMR/USD, 1-hour
