John Woeltz made headlines on Friday following his arrest in New York City for allegedly kidnapping and torturing a man in a bid to get access to his Bitcoin password. Prior to that, the 37-year-old Woeltz once held a very different reputation as a rising star in the crypto world.

The 28-year-old was brought to the Nolita home, where he was held and tortured for several weeks, according to sources.

In Manhattan's tony Nolita neighborhood, the so-called "Crypto King of Kentucky" allegedly held an Italian man hostage and tortured him for weeks when trying to gain access to his Bitcoin wallet. As NBC New York reports,