You can secure a wallet with the strongest encryption available, but it still ends with a person who knows how to open it. That’s the reality behind the rise in “wrench attacks”: kidnappings, home invasions and assaults meant to force crypto holders to hand over their keys.
I’ve spent more than 20 years in security and trained dozens of executives, in crypto and outside it. When I spoke to CNN and Fox News about these attacks in 2025, I said the problem would get worse. It has. Here’s why it’s happening, and what actually protects you.
What is a wrench attack?
The name comes from a well-known xkcd comic. Why try to crack someone’s encryption when a $5 wrench and a threat will get you the password? A wrench attack skips the technology entirely and goes after the person who controls the assets: through kidnapping, home invasion, or threats against their family.
Why it’s happening: low risk, high return
Look at it the way a criminal does. A bank robbery means alarms, cameras, a fast police response, and a payout limited to what’s in the vault. A wrench attack on the right person can mean millions, and once crypto has been moved, it usually can’t be reversed. As I put it on CNN, from a bad actor’s perspective, “this looks a lot like easy money.”
I made the same point to Bloomberg (paywall). As TechRadar reported, I described what bad actors see as “low risk, high ROI,” and pointed out that if the funds are laundered correctly, it makes for an easy payday.
People are the weakest link
Most crypto security focuses on the keys: hardware wallets, multisig, cold storage. Those controls work, and that’s exactly why attackers go around them.
Adam Healy on CNN, May 2025
The practical lesson is that your security model has to include the person holding the keys. If one person can be forced to move everything, everything is at risk. Setups that spread control reduce what any one person can be forced to do: experts suggest several ways to mitigate the threat, including wallets that require multiple approvals before any transaction (Global News).
It’s also why the reported numbers understate the problem. In one study of wrench attacks, of the 11 incidents discussed in interviews with researchers, only two were reported to the authorities (source).
The numbers keep climbing
- Attacks are rising sharply. According to blockchain security company CertiK, cited by Bloomberg, physical attacks related to crypto rose 75% in 2025 to 72 verified incidents (Sherwood News).
- Losses are adding up in 2026. Chainalysis estimates $30m was lost to wrench attacks in the first half of 2026 (Infosecurity Magazine).
- Homes are increasingly the target. Home invasions now account for 37% of incidents, up from 26% in 2023 (same source).
- Some countries are cracking down. In France, at least 88 people, including 10 minors, had reportedly been indicted in connection with alleged wrench attacks on crypto owners by April 27 (Cointelegraph).
The industry is responding with money. Gemini, for example, spent $5 million on security for its co-founders, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (TechRadar).
What actually protects you
Executive protection and board-mandated safeguards help, but they cover a handful of people for part of the day. Everyone else, and those same executives the rest of the time, is on their own.
Adam Healy on CNN, May 2025
Start with what someone could learn about you without leaving their desk:
- Search your own name and address. Property records, data broker sites, old registrations and leaked databases can all link you to your home. Many data brokers will remove a listing on request.
- Separate your phone number from your identity. It’s often what connects an online account to a real person. Use a separate number for exchanges and public profiles.
- Audit what your feed says about your wealth. Luxury purchases, real-time travel posts and conference check-ins all help someone decide you’re worth targeting, and where to find you. Post after you’ve left, not while you’re there.
- Vary what’s predictable. Regular routes and routines make planning easy for an attacker. Small changes make it harder.
None of this requires a security team. It takes an afternoon, and it removes much of what attackers rely on.
Recent cases
Last updated: November 2026
- Russia, November 2026: five suspects were detained after a 22-year-old programmer was kidnapped in Ivanovo. They reportedly targeted him after seeing social media posts of luxury cars and frequent trips abroad (CoinEdition). That’s exactly the kind of footprint that makes someone a target.
The bottom line
Wrench attacks happen because criminals expect them to be low-risk and lucrative. Better wallets matter, but criminals go around them by targeting the person. Reducing what’s publicly known about you, and staying aware of your surroundings, makes you much harder to target.