Crypto Wrench Attacks Surge 90% in 2025 Amid Data Breaches and Extortion Risks
Violent “wrench attacks” on cryptocurrency holders have surged alarmingly in 2025, according to Alena Vranova, founder of hardware wallet maker SatoshiLabs. Speaking at the Baltic Honeybadger 2025 conference in Riga, Latvia, Vranova warned that these attacks—characterized by kidnappings, physical assaults, and extortion to extract private keys—are occurring at an unprecedented rate. She noted that at least one Bitcoiner is subjected to such crimes every week, regardless of their wealth, with some cases involving as little as $6,000 in crypto and others leading to murder for as much as $50,000 in digital assets [1].
The rise in physical attacks is closely linked to a surge in data breaches from centralized services, particularly…
