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Pavel Lerner, a blockchain expert, was taken hostage by masked gunmen on December 26Kiev: Kidnappers in Ukraine have released an employee at a United Kingdom-registered cryptocurrency exchange after getting more than $1 million (Dh3.67 million) in bitcoins as ransom, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister told Reuters on Friday. Pavel Lerner, a leading analyst and blockchain expert, was abducted by unknown masked people on December 26, according to a statement by his company, EXMO Finance, on its website. “This is the first such case in Ukraine linked to bitcoins,” Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, said...

The chief executive of a UK-based Bitcoin exchange called EXMO has reportedly been kidnapped in Ukraine. Pavel Lerner, 40, was kidnapped while leaving his office in Kiev's Obolon district on December 26. Local media reported that he had been pulled into a black Mercedes-Benz by a group of men wearing balaclavas. "We are doing everything possible to speed up the search of Pavel Lerner," a spokesman told the Telegraph. "Any information regarding his whereabouts is very much appreciated...Despite the situation, the exchange is working as usual. We also want to stress that nature of Pavel’s job at EXMO doesn’t assume...