Wrench Attacks on Crypto Holders Surge as Global Violence Intensifies

Forget sophisticated hacks—the latest threat to crypto wealth comes from blunt-force trauma.

Physical Threats, Digital Assets

So-called 'wrench attacks'—where criminals use physical coercion to steal passwords and seed phrases—are spiking worldwide. It's a brutal, low-tech trend hitting high-net-worth individuals who've moved beyond exchange storage. No firewall stops a crowbar.

The Security Paradox

Ironically, this surge in violence highlights crypto's core success: self-custody makes you your own bank. The downside? You're also your own security guard. As geopolitical tensions flare, digital asset holders are becoming visible targets in a fraying physical world.

It's the ultimate stress test for 'not your keys, not your coins'—turns out, keeping your keys safe might require more than a steel plate.

A grim reminder that in finance, whether traditional or decentralized, the biggest risks often come from other people. Sometimes armed with financial charts, sometimes just with a wrench.

Severity of Wrench Attacks Intensifies Across Regions

Lopp classifies every incident into five levels. These include petty physical attacks to lethal violence. The breakdown by Qureshi indicates that the average case now has increased force compared to previous times. It has been reported that there are those attackers who WOULD have used weapons, others just resorted to intimidation to get the victims to give them access to the wallets.

The geographic spread of such incidents has also changed. Western Europe has seen the highest increase in the number of violent cases, with some of the Asian Pacific nations about to be added to the list. The American North continues to be relatively safe, though there has also been an increase in the number of attacks. 

The trend appears to have been largely contributed to by the movement of prices. Qureshi noted that the correlation is rather self-evident when plotting violent occurrences by total market capitalization. He concludes that about 45% of the movement of the frequency of attacks can be attributed to the movement in the general value of the market.

Nonetheless, the data also refutes the assumption that crypto is increasingly becoming riskier. The risk profile would be different when total attacks are corrected to reflect growth in global ownership. The user population has been increasing at a higher rate than the reported attacks. The risk levels on a per-user basis were greater in 2015 and 2018 than now.

Crypto Users Prioritize Stronger Protection

Qureshi underlined the necessity of the individual safety practices. He pointed out that some of the high-risk people can minimize exposure through the use of superior operational security features. He also observed that most attacks were based on foreseeable methods that were associated with irresponsible storing practices.

In 2025, there was a massive collapse in crypto phishing schemes of wallet drainers. According to Web3 security company Scam Sniffer, total losses hit a low of $83.85 million, which was 83% lower than almost $494 million a year ago. The number of victims also declined significantly, with the number plummeting by 68% in a year to about 106,000.

As Scam Sniffer pointed out, phishing is still correlated with market cycles. There were soaring losses during high on-chain activity, and some particularly in the third quarter. The notable increase of ethereum was correlated with $31 million of phishing losses.