Ransomware could still exist without cryptocurrency. But what couldn't exist is the semi-legal support industry that has grown up around this form of extortion, including software vendors, intermediaries, even customer support hotlines for victims. Crypto makes extortion scalable
I rag on it a lot, but holding larger companies' data for ransom is one area where Bitcoin and its many offspring have created genuine innovation.
We need to find a way to repurpose ransomware as an antimonopoly tool. One reason the meat market is so vulnerable is that it's incredibly concentrated, as @JDScholten has talked about pretty eloquently. There's more ag concentration now than we the original antitrust laws passed
Personally, I'm excited to see the first ransomware attack that encrypts an entire blockchain. Most people run one of a few clients, and by definition they have to stay online, so this should be doable. Just remember to do them sequentially so there's a way to get paid.
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