UK witnesses kidnapping, armed robbery of bitcoin for first time

Armed robbers broke into the home of a prominent bitcoin trader in England, holding his wife hostage, and forcing him to transfer a fortune to them. It might be the first armed robbery of bitcoin (BTC) in British history.

Four masked men broke into the home of Amy Jay and Danny Aston, the owners of Aston Digital Currencies Ltd. and data processing firm, Butler Hosting. Initial reports claim the thieves tied up Ms Jay and held Aston at gunpoint. They forced the couple to leave their baby in a stroller outside. A manhunt put a nearby school on lockdown as helicopters joined the search for the suspects. One local claimed spotting four darkly-clad men in their early 20s fleeing the area around the time of the robbery.

"It was a strange time for them to choose because there are always so many parents coming and going directly opposite," the witness told The Daily Mail, who broke the story. "I’d be amazed if more people didn’t see them."

Local police appealed to the public for information.

"Officers are particularly interested in speaking to anyone travelling through the village on the A329 Reading Road between 7:30 am and 10:30 am on Monday who has dashcam footage, or anyone with mobile-phone footage."

The Times of India reported that Aston has carried out over 100,000 bitcoin transactions with more than 16,000 partners since starting to use cryptocurrency. Reports claim he used a pseudonym, Goldiath, when trading online. The Mail later reported Aston and Jay had not been seen at home since the incident. Mr. Aston's LinkedIn profile and Twitter account appear to have been taken down. Cointelligence found no active website for Aston Digital Currencies.

Police have released no info on possible suspects or any details of the planning that went into the crime. It is unclear how much money the thieves managed to nab from Aston or what made up his lost portfolio.