Surge in Crypto Kidnappings Alarms Industry

In 2025, there was a spike in violent crimes against people who own cryptocurrencies, which shocked the global crypto community. Security experts say that at least one Bitcoiner is kidnapped or attacked every week, usually by criminals who want to get into their digital wallets. Investors need to protect themselves both online and in person because of a new trend called “wrench attacks.”

Wrench attacks are getting worse all over the world.

Reports from the Baltic Honeybadger 2025 conference show that wrench attacks are happening at levels never seen before, and this year is on track to break the previous worst record by twice as much. Not just “crypto whales” with a lot of money are victims. Cases of kidnappings with ransoms as low as $6,000 and murders linked to holdings worth only $50,000 show that regular investors are just as at risk.

The rise in Bitcoin’s value seems to be a big reason, but the biggest reason is the record number of personal data breaches. More than 80 million people who use cryptocurrency have had their personal information leaked online, including 2.2 million records with home addresses. Security experts say that these leaks usually come from centralized exchanges. For example, Coinbase suffered a major breach this year, while in June 2025, over 16 billion login credentials were exposed online—information that cybercriminals can combine with physical threats to target victims more precisely.

How to Keep Investors Safe

Experts say that people who own cryptocurrency should keep their digital footprint small, not link their real identities to wallet addresses, and keep large amounts of cryptocurrency in cold storage. Using P.O. boxes instead of home addresses, not talking about crypto holdings in public, and putting in home security systems are some of the other things that can be done.

The growing number of kidnappings related to cryptocurrencies is a clear sign that the threat in the digital asset space is not just virtual. As cryptocurrencies become more popular, it’s important to protect yourself both online and offline. Anyone who is involved in the crypto ecosystem now needs to be careful, protect their privacy, and take steps to protect their security.

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