Bitcoiners who intend to travel to Colombia with their private keys should be aware of a warning from Jameson Lopp, the co-founder and CTO of CasaHODL and the developer of the Bitcoin.page.
Lopp expressed concern on Twitter that Colombia may become the top hotspot for physical attacks on Bitcoiners. He cited the prevalence of Scopolamine, a drug that makes victims compliant, as a contributing factor to this trend.
Lopp continued by recounting the terrifying incident of a Bitcoiner who, after using Scopolamine, was almost robbed of all of his cryptocurrency. While on vacation in Colombia, the victim met a cab driver and attended parties with women.
He blacked out and brought two hookers home, giving the taxi driver his house code and phone with Bitcoin. He later discovered that $600 worth of Bitcoin and his phone were stolen. The incident highlights the dangers of excessive drinking and the importance of protecting valuable possessions.
Bitcoiners’ Guide To Traveling In Colombia: Tips & Recommendations
Other people responded to Lopp’s tweet by pointing out that the incident was more about partying with strangers abroad than it was about Colombia. However, Lopp was quick to add that there have been instances where people have met using dating applications like Tinder.
Luke Dashjr, a BTC Core engineer, climbed in and questioned whether similar instances would occur everywhere. Lopp acknowledged that they could technically do so, but the presence of Scopolamine made Colombia riskier for Bitcoiners.
However, Lopp urges everyone aware of similar attacks on crypto assets to file a report on his repository at Github.com. Instead, anyone bringing Bitcoin into Colombia should be mindful of the dangers and take steps to safeguard their investments.
But even if owning cryptocurrencies carries a risk, as Jameson Lopp’s warning emphasizes, there is a chance for significant gains.
Awareness and caution are necessary to protect digital assets against theft and fraud. The community has to be aware of potential risks as the usage of cryptocurrencies grows and take preventative action to reduce them.
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