While cryptocurrency enthusiasts boast about freedom from government oversight, they’re discovering a brutal downside to that liberty. The rising trend of crypto kidnappings is turning digital wealth into a liability. Criminals with a wrench and a grudge are finding that torture works just as well as hacking to access digital fortunes. No sophisticated coding required.
The numbers don’t lie. In May 2025, the father of a French crypto entrepreneur was abducted for a ransom between 5-7 million euros. He was maimed before being rescued. That same month, criminals attempted to abduct the Paymium CEO’s family in France. January saw the kidnapping of Ledger co-founder David Balland.
These aren’t isolated incidents.
The tactics are primitive but effective. “Wrench attacks” involve straightforward physical threats. Some criminals pose as police officers. Others lure victims through dating apps. The goal? Force the transfer of crypto assets on the spot. No paper trail, no bank records. Just a frightened human being and a mobile phone. Even victims with hardware wallets can be forced to reveal their private keys under duress.
Victims typically have high net worth and poor operational security. They post about their holdings online. They work in visible positions at crypto companies. Crypto executives are increasingly hiring personal security services to protect themselves and their families. They might as well walk around with a “kidnap me” sign taped to their backs.
The financial stakes are enormous. Ransoms range from thousands to millions. In British Columbia, criminals posing as police officers stole 10 million Canadian dollars in crypto. In the UK, a student transferred 6,000 pounds in Bitcoin at knifepoint. Freedom from regulation, it turns out, also means freedom from protection.
Law enforcement is struggling to respond. The victim pool is dispersed and hard to reach. Tracing crypto transactions presents unique challenges. International coordination lags behind the criminals’ mobility. This troubling trend coincides with broader patterns, as 2024 saw illicit crypto volume decline by 24% while these targeted physical attacks increased.
