Twitch streamer says she was held at gunpoint for her crypto in home invasion
An online streamer and OnlyFans personality says she was targeted over the weekend by a group of armed men who allegedly broke into her Houston, Texas, home, pistol-whipped her, and demanded access to her cryptocurrency accounts.
A spokesman for the Houston Police Department confirmed the incident, and told The Independent that no arrests had yet been made as of Tuesday morning. The investigation is ongoing, the spokesman said.
Last November, 31-year-old Kaitlyn Siragusa, a self-described 'cosplayer, model, and character performer' who goes by the name Amouranth online, posed a question to her 3.8 million followers on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, 'Help! Do I sell or hold my BTC?'
Siragusa accompanied the request with a screenshot of her apparent crypto holdings, which displayed a balance of more than $20 million in Bitcoin.
She did not respond on Tuesday to a request for comment by The Independent.
At 10:55 p.m. on Sunday, Siragusa posted to X what appeared to be a plea for help, writing, 'I'm… being robbed at gunpoint,' following the message with, 'This is not a prank.'
In a subsequent post, Siragusa said she had been asleep in bed when the alleged home invasion occurred, and that the gunmen 'kept shooting my bedroom door and then finally kicked it in,' after which she claimed she was given a phone and instructed to log into her crypto account. Siragusa said she took to X instead of calling 911, 'because calling would be a death sentence.'
Doorbell camera video Siragusa posted on X showed three people entering the 6,500 square-foot home she shares with her husband, then running away a short time later.
Audio of what sounded like three gunshots could be heard offscreen while the trio was reportedly inside; Siragusa's husband shot at the intruders and hit one, according to local NBC affiliate KPRC.
'They beat me before this video and pistol whipped me,' Siragusa posted after the incident. '[T]he pummeling felt like it would never end and I protected my head by putting my arms up like I Learned how to do in boxing, blood was streaming down my head… They brought duct tape and masks and were armed with handguns[.]'
'I'm covered in blood but only some of it is mine I'll update yall [sic] later,' she wrote in a follow-up post.
At 12:29 a.m. on Monday, Siragusa posted a photo of police vehicles outside her property's front gates, writing, 'swat here now i'm safe'
The alleged bandits left empty-handed, according to reports.
Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information in the case.
Armed robbery attempts for cryptocurrency have become more common in recent years. In 2023, a 76-year-old retiree was zip-tied and held hostage at gunpoint in his North Carolina home by a pair of men dressed as utility workers who allegedly demanded the contents of the man's cryptocurrency account.
Authorities said one of the robbers threatened to slice off the man's toes and genitals if he didn't cooperate; the two were later convicted and sentenced to federal prison.
In 2021, Siragusa's home was set ablaze in a suspected arson attack.
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