Alena Vranova, the founder of SatoshiLabs, warned that incidents of wrench attacks, personal assaults, and kidnappings targeting Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency holders are on the rise, with attackers attempting to steal their private keys.
"Every week, there is at least one Bitcoin holder in the world who is kidnapped, tortured, extorted, and sometimes even worse," Vranova told the audience at the Baltic Honeybadger 2025 conference held in Riga, Latvia.
She warned that even small-scale cryptocurrency investors could become targets for violent criminals. She added:
"Wrench attacks against cryptocurrency holders are on the rise, which is a disturbing trend. In 2025, personal attacks against Bitcoin holders are expected to reach twice the worst historical year, prompting investors, developers, and industry executives to take personal security measures."
Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges collect sensitive user information based on Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, and data breaches from other centralized software providers that collect customer data enable violent criminals to target cryptocurrency holders and their families.
"We currently have over 80 million Bitcoin holders and cryptocurrency users' identities leaked online; among them, 2.2 million contain home addresses," Vranova said.
She added that these attacks are correlated with Bitcoin prices, with the frequency of attacks increasing during bull markets.
In May, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase disclosed a data breach that exposed a small portion of Coinbase customers' information, including home addresses and other identifying information.
In June, a report from Cybernews found a database containing over 16 billion leaked user login credentials from platforms like Apple, Facebook, and Google.
Password leaks negatively impact cryptocurrency holders, who now face more phishing, social engineering, hacking, identity theft, and other types of targeted scams designed to steal user data and funds.
Related: Aave faced a phishing attack the day after net deposits reached $60 billion.
Original: “Crypto Executive: At Least 1 Bitcoin (BTC) Holder Kidnapped Every Week”
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