Nitrogen Sports appears to have been the subject of a continual and aggressive blackmailing and smear campaign that they are attempting to bring to an end today by going public with the information. The hacker demanded Bitcoin in order to prevent DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks that were bringing down the site.
Nitrogen Sports posted a few key private messages on Bitcointalk that showcase the alleged blackmailer's demands. Additionally, we have been handed private messages and email logs that reveal more details, including that the alleged hacker, who goes by the name "DD4BC" on Bitcointalk, threatened to reveal the website to the authorities of the nation they are hosted in, and ominous comments about people the hacker believed to be relatives of Nitrogen Sports employees.
DD4BC has also been hopping on the Bitcointalk forums to complain about Nitrogen Sports' downtime, which he claimed to cause in the private chat log. In the public posts, he said he “loves” Nitrogen Sports and would hate to move to another sportsbook, but the private back and forth between him and Nitrogen Sports reveal a different story.
In the information we have been provided, DD4BC also claims that Nitrogen Sports competitors pay his extortion fees, which is why they do not suffer the same attacks as they have been lately. We have been told that Nitrogen Sports has been dealing with DD4BC's extortion attempts for a few months, dating back at least to July 31st.
DD4BC's continually asked for “2 BTC” with the threat that the price would go up to three bitcoins if Nitrogen Sports didn't pay up soon. Ironically, DD4BC took to Bitcointalk to complain about a “2 BTC withdraw” that he was waiting for. Nitrogen Sports gave us this comment on that claim:
At Nitrogen Sports, unfortunately we don't consider extortion attempts to be withdrawals.
The address listed in DD4BC's alleged recent extortion attemps do not have any transactions associtated with it at press time. We were given another address 1H2bstU3yCpqJyrNzHSrnperZnTMSwLa5K which was purportedly used by the hacker back in August. He transfers the funds to what appears to be a mixing service.
There is bound to be some shadowy dealing and nefarious happenings whenever you are talking about things that exist in the gray market, like gambling. The alleged blackmailer likely feels safe that Nitrogen Sports will give into his demands because of that murky legal situation. While it is unlikely the police would be able to track down this blackmailer, it is clear that online casinos have reason to avoid involving law enforcement.
That said, online gambling was one of the first real use cases of Bitcoin. One that is significantly more useful than the other early use case of Bitcoin in bringing in mainstream adoption. There are millions of people around the world who would never order something off of darknet sites like The Silk Road, but would absolutely love to drop their local sports bookie or online gambling site for something safer like Bitcoin casinos. While no one owes anyone anything after an agreement (like a bet) is fulfilled, the Bitcoin economy would not be where it is today without the gambling market. The extortionist is therefore indirectly attacking Bitcoin's very usability.
Nitrogen Sports. can't turn to the police, it likely wouldn't be effective even if they did. So, perhaps turning to the community for answers is a better option. Witch hunts are never a good thing and vigilante justice should not be encouraged. However, if you think you have any information on DD4BC's identity, you are encouraged to share it with Nitrogensports before posting it in a public matter. You can reach them at here . Other casinos who have also been victim of DD4BC's alleged crimes are encouraged to come forward as well.
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