The rise of cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin, has been accompanied by an alarming surge in wrench attacks during 2025. These physical assaults are aimed at coercing victims into surrendering access to their digital currencies, with at least 65 documented cases recorded in a public database maintained by Jameson Lopp, the CTO of security firm Casa. Experts suggest that the actual number is likely much higher, as many attacks remain unreported.
The increase in wrench attacks does not only reflect the financial allure of cryptocurrencies but also highlights the dangers that come with their growing mainstream adoption. The grim nature of these incidents includes severe violence, kidnapping, and sexual assaults.
One of the most notorious cases this year involved David Balland, co-founder of Ledger, who was kidnapped from his home in France. In January, armed assailants held him and his wife captive for around 24 hours as they sought ransom. Reports indicated that one of Balland’s fingers was severed and sent to his associates to intimidate them into making a payment. French authorities later arrested a French-Moroccan national suspected of leading this kidnapping and other criminal plots.
Another harrowing incident occurred in British Columbia, Canada, involving a family who endured a wrench attack in late 2024 that only made headlines after one perpetrator was sentenced in November. Two attackers, posing as postal workers, facilitated the entry of additional assailants, who then waterboarded the husband and wife for access to their cryptocurrency accounts. Their daughter suffered sexual assault, forced to create degrading videos. The attackers fled with approximately $1.6 million in crypto.
In a separate incident, Jacob Irwin-Cline, a U.S. tourist in London, was duped into entering a vehicle misrepresented as an Uber. After being given a laced cigarette, he lost consciousness but remained suggestible enough to divulge access to his crypto holdings, resulting in the theft of about $72,000 in XRP and $50,000 in Bitcoin.
Furthermore, two men in New York were arrested for allegedly luring an Italian businessman under false pretenses. The victim was then bound, beaten, and subjected to torture, with the attackers using electric shocks and threats of violence against the victim’s family to extract passwords for cryptocurrency accounts. Defense attorneys claimed video evidence indicated the victim was present voluntarily, leading to a complex legal battle. The accused were released on bail pending trial.
In one of the year’s most shocking incidents, a 21-year-old student in Vienna became a victim of a brutal attack. Danylo K., the son of the deputy mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine, was abducted, tortured, and ultimately burned in a barbaric act. His assailants forced him to drive to a remote location where he was beaten and then set on fire after being doused with gasoline. Withdrawals from his crypto wallet were reported following the crime, and the two suspects—Ukrainian nationals—fled to Ukraine but were later apprehended.
As the popularity of cryptocurrency continues to grow, so too does the array of dangers that accompany it, making these wrench attacks a troubling trend for investors and users alike.
