Physical attacks on
crypto-asset holders
A record of 670 attacks in 72 countries between January 2020 and October 2026: kidnappings, home invasions, robberies and assaults carried out to obtain a cryptocurrency transfer or the keys to a wallet.
Summary
Attacks of this kind are rare in absolute terms but have become markedly more frequent. The number of cases recorded rose from 69 in 2023 to 165 in 2025, and the period from 1 January to 15 October 2026 already accounts for 134 of them — a pace that would give about 170 over the full year.
They are also violent. A victim was held against their will in 413 of 670 cases, injured in 300, and killed in 31. The median sum taken is $100,000 — these are not opportunistic street robberies, but planned operations against people believed to hold significant balances.
Where the attacks happen is not simply a matter of where cryptocurrency is held. Once cases are measured against population, the highest rates are found in Taiwan and France; the United States, which ranks third in absolute numbers, falls well down the list. Local press coverage strongly shapes what can be seen at all, and the record is a floor everywhere, not a count.
This record was built by searching local-language press in around thirty languages, starting from a public reference list and extending it, and it is updated every week. 375 of the 670 cases were found by this search outside that list; 351 of them are now in it too, most through an import by its maintainer on 16 October 2026.
Interpretation
Every case here was reported by at least one identifiable source, and each source was opened and read. Attacks that are never reported — the majority, by every available indication — cannot appear.
Country comparisons are shown with confidence intervals. Where two intervals overlap, the two countries cannot be told apart.