Torture for "bitcoin": bandits began hunting for cryptocurrencies
The news of the unknown disappearance of a blogger and a crypto investor popular in Russian social networks has become another reason to think about the personal safety of holders of digital currency wallets. A few years ago, the world of the cyber—rich faced a real threat - criminals kidnap the holders of treasured codes and in a second appropriate their fortunes at the risk of their lives. Dozens of similar crimes have already been recorded around the world, and Russia is no exception. For more information, see the Izvestia article.
Growth continues
Since the beginning of this decade, the cryptocurrency industry has faced a new reality — code hacking has given way to "hacking" people. According to the analytical company TRM Labs, 2025 was a record year for the number of so-called wrench attacks. "wrench attack") — attacks demanding the transfer of cryptocurrency under threat of physical violence. Last year, about 60 such cases were recorded, and the real number, according to experts, is much higher, given the high latency of the cryptocurrency world and the criminal nature of many transactions.
Statistics confirm the increase: 36 attacks in 2021, 41 in 2024, and a sharp jump to 60 in 2025. Experts predict further growth in 2026. Foreign experts complain that many incidents are recorded as ordinary robberies, without mentioning the cryptocurrency component. In Russia, for a long time, law enforcement officers completely ignored cryptocurrency theft.
— Cryptocurrency robberies began at the very beginning of the "bitcoin era", when digital assets meant nothing to the law. The exchange took place in person at a meeting — a suitcase of money was brought to the holder, he transferred them in the application by agreement to someone else's account," a law enforcement source told Izvestia. — When trying to take rubles or dollars, a person got kicked in the teeth by "sportics". And the police issued a "waiver" to his statement — the fact of theft did not take place.
Non-digital danger
The first criminal case on the theft of cryptocurrencies was completed only in April 2023. It was about the embezzlement by the accused of the digital currency of the Singapore crypto exchange, on which he worked. The investigation then estimated that the digital currency was equivalent to 3 billion rubles.
Blockchain technology is quite transparent and secure, unlike humans. In fact, the cryptomillionaire's only protection is secrecy. But large-scale leaks give criminals the names of "cryptokeans." For example, in May 2025, customer data on the Coinbase exchange was compromised after bribing support staff in India. Among the stolen information were the names, e-mail and postal addresses of customers; encrypted numbers of their bank accounts and social security numbers; images of identity cards (driver's licenses and passports); account information (balance, transaction history, opening dates). This information was used by cybercriminals for fraudulent calls "from the support of the crypto exchange" according to the scheme with the transfer of crypto funds "to a secure account." But the information also served as a tip for the robbers.
Izvestia's source in cryptocurrency circles confirmed the urgency of the danger for holders of crypto wallets in Russia.
"Technical protection measures are powerless in the face of a physical threat," the source says. — If criminals know that you have crypto assets and are ready to use force, no "cold wallet" (a way to store cryptocurrencies offline. — Izvestia) will not save.
According to him, holders should minimize public information about their assets and abandon geotagging on social networks. He also advises the use of multi-signature (a technology that allows combining multiple individual signatures to sign digital asset transactions) for large amounts.
— Your "crypt" is vulnerable just as much as your life is public, — says the interlocutor. — In a world where virtual assets have become a real value, crime has moved from online to offline. And you need to be prepared for this.
The chronicle of bloody attacks
The growing list of victims demonstrates that cryptocurrency holders, including Russian ones (especially those who prefer to live or do business abroad), are targets for the most brutal forms of extortion.
- France, January 2025. The Ledger Case
The most high-profile crime in Europe. Armed men abducted David Balland, the co—founder of Ledger, a hardware crypto wallet company, and his wife right from their home. The criminals demanded a ransom of € 10 million, and as proof of the seriousness of their intentions, they cut off Balland's finger by sending a video to his business partners. The victims were held for several days until elite special forces intervened. It is noteworthy that almost all funds transferred to criminals were tracked, frozen and confiscated.
- USA, November-December 2025. A series of "courier" attacks
Three men in California have organized a series of attacks on cryptocurrency owners. They acted according to the same scheme: they posed as delivery couriers, broke into homes and, under threats of violence, beat out "SID phrases" (keys to access wallets) from victims. During the month, they attacked at least four addresses in San Francisco and Los Angeles, stealing a total of at least $6.5 million. All three were arrested in December 2025.
- USA, May 2026. The disappearance of Nancy Guthrie
The elderly mother of famous TV presenter Savannah Guthrie has disappeared from her home in Arizona. A former FBI agent put forward the theory that it was a wrench attack — a kidnapping in order to force the transfer of cryptocurrencies, as a similar attack occurred the day before 90 miles from her home in order to steal crypto assets. Authorities said they knew the motive for the abduction, but did not disclose details. This case shows that even elderly relatives of crypto investors can become victims.
- France, May 2025. The assassination attempt on the daughter of the CEO of Paymium
In broad daylight in Paris, several masked men tried to force the daughter and grandson of the head of the Paymium crypto exchange into a van. The woman miraculously managed to escape and escape thanks to the intervention of her husband.
- USA, New York, 2025. 17 days of torture
Two men abducted an acquaintance of the Italian crypto trader and held him for more than two weeks. To extract passwords, they tortured him with a stun gun, beat him, and threatened him with a chainsaw. The incident was one of the most violent in a series of "wrench attacks" in the United States.
- UAE, autumn 2025. Murder of a Russian couple
Another murder in the wrench attack scenario occurred in the fall of 2025 in Dubai. Roman Novak, a crypto investor from St. Petersburg, and his wife Anna were abducted and then killed. Their bodies were buried in the desert. According to investigators, the attackers sought to seize the crypto assets that the couple had. The suspects were arrested in Russia.
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