Bitcoin ’wrench attacks’ on track to double its worst year

Bitcoin “wrench attacks” — a violent form of cryptocurrency theft — could see its worst year in 2025, with criminals spurred on by Bitcoin’s soaring market value, according to Chainalysis.

“Wrench attacks” refer to a situation where physical force or intimidation is used to force a victim to give up their crypto holdings, and Chainalysis said that with 35 attacks already recorded as of July, the numbers are on track to “have potentially twice as many physical attacks as the next highest year on record.”

The last bull market peak in 2021 was the worst year on record, with a total of 36 recorded attacks against crypto holders, according to a list compiled by Jameson Lopp, a cypherpunk and co-founder of self-custodial firm Casa on GitHub

Speaking to Cointelegraph, a Chainalysis spokesperson said there is clear evidence of a marked increase in violent crimes associated with crypto holdings, especially kidnappings, ransom demands, home invasions and extortion targeting private holders of digital assets since 2023

So far, 2021 has been the worst year on record for wrench attacks, with 36. Source: Jameson Lopp GitHub## Crypto price spikes partly to blame

Chainalysis blames part of the increased frequency of attacks on the rising price of Bitcoin (BTC), triggering “additional opportunistic physical attacks against known crypto holders.”

Bitcoin has clocked multiple new all-time highs in 2025, with a current top of over $122,000, which it hit on Monday, according to Nansen data

Chainalysis told Cointelegraph there are several more factors contributing to this trend

“The perceived anonymity and liquidity of crypto, increased public visibility of wealth, and the growing involvement of traditional organized crime networks, underlying these is the rapid appreciation in price associated with assets such as Bitcoin,” the spokesperson said

Chainalysis CEO Jonathan Levin speculated during the 2025 Consensus crypto conference in May, which Cointelegraph covered, that criminal organizations may be kidnapping crypto holders, assuming that crypto isn’t traceable.

ETFs, law enforcement might curb attacks

“As with any crime, it is tough to predict its future trends. However, given that there is a correlation between the rise in violent crimes and rising Bitcoin prices, it could be assumed that violent crimes would likely persist in a bull market,” said the Chainalysis spokesperson

However, a few factors could help deter thieves, such as the widespread availability of structured market products such as Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products, which allow people to invest in crypto without holding the underlying asset themselves, they said

The transparency of blockchain technology also means that funds stolen in crypto are traceable and, in the case of stablecoins, freezeable.

“Continued law enforcement activity might also act as a deterrent and break the current trend we observe in the data,” they said

“Hopefully, this traceability and potential freezability, when coupled with consistent law enforcement action, means illicit actors will realize harming people and stealing crypto is not effective.”

True number of victims unknown

Lopp’s list is an account of wrench attacks dating back to 2014, when someone allegedly tried to extort computer scientist and cryptographer Hal Finney

Related: French police make more arrests in crypto kidnapping case

The Chainalysis spokesperson said that while “these cases remain comparatively rare,” compared to hacks and other digital thefts, there is no concrete way to know for sure how many attacks happen each year

“People might simply not report the incident, either out of fear of retribution or a sense of hopelessness, which the evidence suggests can be misplaced,” they said

“Reported cases might also be handled locally without much additional publicity, which means the case would go unreported in a dataset of public incidents.”

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