'Wrench attacks' are targeting wealthy crypto moguls

With cryptocurrency investments continuing to peak, many wealthy investors in the crypto space are being subjected to a series of violent encounters with thieves, which have come to be known as wrench attacks. These attacks are increasingly commonplace as the public is starting to feel more angst toward the crypto industry, experts say.

Such attacks can involve kidnapping, torture and coercion, all done with the intent of trying to obtain the information of wealthy crypto moguls. Many individuals are living in fear as a result.

What is a wrench attack?

This is a colloquialism referring to "violent physical attacks on cryptocurrency investors," said NPR, with the goal of obtaining the investor's cryptocurrency or bitcoin password. The phrase was coined by an online meme that "mocked how easily high-tech security can be undone by hitting someone with a wrench until they give up passwords," said The Associated Press.

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Experts are noting that sophisticated cybersecurity measures may not be useful under the threat of physical violence. Investors "are very proud of the digital locks they put around their crypto to guard it," crypto reporter Jeff John Roberts said to NPR. But "even if you have really, really good digital security, if you're being beaten with a wrench, you're probably going to tell the password, and the security won't do you any good anymore."

One high-profile attack happened in France in January, when abductors kidnapped crypto executive David Ballard and "cut one of his fingers off and bound his girlfriend and put him in a car," said Roberts. Another case involved a man who was reportedly "kidnapped and tortured for nearly three weeks in a townhouse in New York City in an effort to separate him from his fortune."

Why are wrench attacks happening?

The attacks mark a notable shift in strategy for crypto thieves; stealing crypto is "almost as old as cryptocurrency itself, but it's usually done by hacking. North Korean state hackers alone are believed to have stolen billions of dollars' worth of crypto in recent years," said the AP. In-person attacks represent a ramping up of violence against these investors.

Crypto has "surged in value, with bitcoin up 54% in the last year, minting a whole new array of potential deep-pocketed targets," said The Wall Street Journal. That is giving thieves new motivations to physically target people; beyond this, a "vast amount of personal data has been stolen and dumped in the past decade," allowing thieves to find out significant personal information about their victims. Cybercriminals "have become adept at figuring out their victims' home address by cross-referencing databases and even using paid sources of information." This type of data is "often made public in order to threaten and de-anonymize their victims, a form of online attack known as doxxing."

As crypto becomes more ubiquitous in the financial market, the statistics on wrench attacks keep rising. There were "eight reported physical attacks against people owning Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency" in 2023, according to Fortune, while there were 24 in 2024. The issue has become so widespread that a startup, AnchorWatch, which helps crypto owners insure their digital assets, has now gotten involved; the company "succeeded in persuading insurance giant Lloyd's of London to include wrench attacks in the policy that AnchorWatch offers to its customers."

Crypto "should be insurable. Since you can transfer it on chain, it's easy to see, and you have a better chance to recover it," Becca Rubenfeld, the cofounder of AnchorWatch, said to Fortune. The nature of these attacks "can make it seem amateurish, but it doesn't mean it's less dangerous."