Hong Kong has recently been in the news due to crypto regulatory developments or the buzz around the possibility of spotting Bitcoin or Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETF) launch in the coming months.
On this occasion, the digital asset’s hub made the headlines after a crypto trading meeting between teenagers ended with the police’s involvement and a hospital visit.
Crypto Enthusiasm Turns Violent
According to The South China Morning Post (SCMP), a 19-year-old was rescued after allegedly being assaulted over profits obtained from crypto trading. As a result, three teenagers were arrested by Hong Kong’s police after allegedly beating the boy in a hotel room in the early hours of today.
A group of teenagers aged between 16 and 19 had scheduled a meeting in a room at Harbour Grand Kowloon Hotel in the Hung Hom area. The teenagers seemingly organized the reunion to meet people and trade crypto together.
The victim, whose identity was not revealed, was allegedly detained and physically assaulted by the other nine people in the room. Per the report, the attackers demanded that the victim pay HK$180,000, approximately $23,000, in profits earned from crypto trading.
After threatening and blackmailing the victim, two teenagers from the group attacked the 19-year-old boy with baseball bats. A friend of the victim called the police after being contacted.
After learning of the police involvement, most of the suspects fled the scene. However, the police were able to detain one of the aggressors inside the room and the other two outside the hotel.
A source told the SCMP that the room where the incident occurred had previously been used as a spot for crypto trading. Detectives from the Kowloon City anti-triad is handling the case.
At the time of the report, the authorities continued to look for the other six teenagers, four males and two females.
It is worth noting that it’s unclear whether the demanded profits were gained during the meeting or if the victim was allured to the hotel room to be threatened and extorted.
Is Younger People’s Interest A Recipe For Disaster?
As previously reported, a 16-year-old teenager was suspected to be responsible for the hack that plummeted the Solana-based stablecoin Cashio. The attacker was allegedly involved in several rug pulls at the time. During this incident, the hacker exploited approximately $28 million.
Other cases where young crypto enthusiasts have made the headlines are not absent as the younger generations’ adoption increases. Nonetheless, the reasons behind the news are not always negative.
Generation Z (Gen Z) is emerging at the forefront of the crypto community. Younger people have started to take on leading and important developing roles, as Vitalik Buterin noted in his birthday post.
A study by Bitget revealed that Gen Z leads the pack regarding copy and social trading. Moreover, reports show that the newest generation of investors “are a growing force of digitally savvy stakeholders” who have adopted crypto as their most common investment.
Cryptocurrencies and the underlying technology offer accessibility and financial freedom to those who use them. Undoubtedly, the younger generation of investors is embracing the benefits of crypto and decentralized finances (DeFi).
