Violent Crypto Home Invasions Surge as Thieves Target Retail Investors
Julia Goodwin and her husband Glenn awoke to shattered glass and gun barrels pressed against their heads in their Delray Beach home. The assailants demanded access to phones, laptops, and crypto wallets—a scene repeating globally as physical crypto thefts nearly doubled in 2025. Over 215 such attacks have been recorded since 2020, though security researcher Jameson Lopp estimates the true number is higher due to unreported cases.
The attacks trace back to Jarod 'Meow' Seemungal, a former child prodigy turned criminal organizer. After being robbed himself, Seemungal began hiring enforcers. His crew allegedly attempted to steal $200,000 from Goodwin's Gemini account before later abducting a 20-year-old hacker, forcing Coinbase account openings, and dumping him NEAR I-95. In Texas, associates tortured a victim with hot irons and fingernail extraction during a failed hardware wallet hunt.
Thieves now favor brute-force tactics over digital hacks, exploiting the irreversible nature of blockchain transactions. Uniformed intruders have even posed as delivery drivers to case targets. 'It wasn’t a bird at the door,' Goodwin recalled. 'It was the sound of crypto’s darkest trend coming home.'
