Physical attacks on crypto-asset holdersA verified global record, 2020–2026

Findings

Where these attacks are recorded, how they unfold, and what is taken.

Geography

The fifteen most affected countries of the 72 in the record, all years combined.

Limits of absolute counts

These totals track population size and the density of local crime reporting as much as risk. France leads partly because its regional press reports these cases in detail and its prosecutors comment on them.

Taiwan is a different case: 35 of its 63 cases are robberies staged during in-person cash-for-crypto trades, and several of its attempted attacks follow the same pattern.

See the population-adjusted figures

Attack patterns

A victim was held against their will in 413 of the 670 cases — three in five. Physical violence was used in 430. A firearm was present in 161 cases, roughly one in four.

Type of attack

Outcome for the victim

Heaviest weapon

Amounts taken

The 447 cases with a reported figure. The largest single loss in the record is $50m. The 223 cases without a figure are not cases without loss: the source simply does not quantify it.

Median $100,000

Half of the quantified cases fall between $24,000 and $400,000. The distribution is heavily skewed: the ten largest cases account for a substantial share of the $394m total.

Amounts are those reported by the source at the time of the attack, with no later revaluation of the assets.