There have already been 35 reported physical attacks on Bitcoiners in just the first seven months of 2025.
Bitcoin “wrench attacks” — a violent form of cryptocurrency theft — could see its worst year in 2025, with criminals spurred on by Bitcoin’s soaring market value, according to Chainalysis.
“Wrench attacks” refer to a situation where physical force or intimidation is used to force a victim to give up their crypto holdings, and Chainalysis said that with 35 attacks already recorded as of July, the numbers are on track to “have potentially twice as many physical attacks as the next highest year on record.”
The last bull market peak in 2021 was the worst year on record, with a total of 36 recorded attacks against crypto holders, according to a list compiled by Jameson Lopp, a cypherpunk and co-founder of self-custodial firm Casa on GitHub.
