Crypto wrench attacks to surge following a violent 2025

Criminals will ramp up their violent attacks against crypto executives, investors and influencers in 2026, experts warn.

Bad actors are emboldened by law enforcements’ inability to deal with these crimes and the fact that more investors than ever are tapping into digital assets, which means there are more targets than ever, TRM Labs’ Global Head of Policy, Ari Redbord, told DL News.

“We’ll continue to see [the numbers] of wrench attacks go up,” Redbord said.

His comments come after 2025 was the worst on record for wrench attacks, with around 55 reported globally last year, according to TRM Labs. Another tracker created by Bitcoin developer Jameson Lopp counted more than 70 attacks during 2025.

But the number could be even higher, as official figures from law enforcement are unlikely to be accurate, Redbord said.

The warning that more attacks are coming should worry the crypto community, which was already rattled by the violent assaults that have included mutilation, torture and murders.

Now, many in the community have paid to bolster their security, Bloomberg reported in December. For instance, last year’s EthCC conference co-founder Jerome de Tychey told DL News that Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin would receive extra security at the event due to the rise in crypto crime.

A very violent 2025

The phrase “wrench attacks” stems from a webcomic that joked that it’s easier for criminals to beat someone with a wrench to make them give up their password than to hack their systems digitally. It’s not a great joke.

“These attacks don’t rely on complex hacking techniques,” BlackCloak, one of the security firms selling protection to crypto investors, put it. “They rely on something much simpler: physical force.”

That’s sanitised way to describe a wave of attacks that involved kidnappings, home invasions, threats, and torture. And it’s a global problem. Attacks are happening across the world, including in Brazil, France, Sweden, Norway, Canada, and Thailand.

These attacks have haunted the crypto sphere for years, but a string of high-profile violent attacks over the past year have raised the threat levels for crypto investors considerably.

Wrench attacks made headlines last year when crooks kidnapped David Balland, co-founder of crypto hardware wallet brand Ledger, and his wife in France.

Criminals held the pair for around 24 hours before they were rescued by the French authorities.

Another particularly brutal attack shocked the crypto world after court documents only made public in November detailed a 2024 home invasion where criminals waterboarded a man and his wife in Vancouver, Canada before sexually assaulting their daughter to steal over $1.5 million in Bitcoin.

Police need better training

Now experts warn investors to protect themselves.

“As cryptocurrency adoption grows and more value is held directly by individuals, criminals are increasingly incentivised to bypass technical defenses altogether and target people instead,” Redbord said.

He added that police are unlikely to have the resources or knowledge to deal with or properly report such crimes — but hopefully that will improve as more people use and hold crypto.

A field day for crypto crooks

Criminals focused on stealing digital assets had their most successful year ever in 2025. Over $3.4 billion was stolen in a record number of hacks — with centralised exchanges being targeted more than previously.

A large amount of last year’s exploits were attributed to North Korean actors, often state-sponsored, who have become better at stealing and laundering crypto.

Hackers believed to be from North Korea in February pulled off the biggest digital asset heist in history when they targeted crypto exchange Bybit, making away with around $1.5 billion in Ethereum and Ethereum-related tokens.

Mathew Di Salvo is a news correspondent with DL News. Got a tip? Email at mdisalvo@dlnews.com.