Law enforcement agencies in Spain and France have made significant arrests in a series of brutal, physically violent crimes targeting cryptocurrency holders, a trend security experts are calling 'wrench attacks'. This escalation highlights a dangerous shift from digital hacking to physical extortion as criminals adapt to improved online security measures.
In Spain, the National Police arrested two Serbian nationals, aged 32 and 45, on March 16 after intercepting a Ford Transit van in Madrid. The victim, a 33-year-old Canadian crypto entrepreneur, was ambushed, pepper-sprayed, and forced into the van. The assailants attempted to steal his Bitcoin and a luxury watch valued at €100,000. Police found plastic zip ties and sedative pills in the vehicle. A third suspect managed to escape.
In France, authorities have been particularly active, arresting five new suspects—including a 16-year-old—across Le Mans, Angers, and Épinal. These individuals are linked to a horrific 2024 New Year's Eve kidnapping in Saint-Genis-Pouilly, where armed men broke into a home seeking a Dubai-based crypto influencer's digital assets. When unsuccessful, they doused the influencer's 56-year-old father in gasoline, threw him in a car trunk, and drove him 700 kilometers to Le Mans. His partner was found tied up at the scene.
In a separate and gruesome case in Haute-Savoie, France, police have charged seven people (six men and one woman) for the kidnapping and torture of a retired couple in January. The attackers, targeting their son who works in the crypto industry, bound the couple, inflicted a head wound on the retired doctor husband, and slashed the wife's back with a box cutter. They filmed the ordeal, demanding a $9.2 million ransom from the son. The couple was released two days later near Montélimar.
French authorities note that the country has recorded 11 of the 14 major global wrench attacks in 2026 so far. Other high-profile cases include a murder in Istanbul, where a Chinese businessman was found buried, and a fatal attack in Vienna on the son of a Ukrainian deputy mayor, whose body was discovered in a burned-out car after his wallets were drained.
Experts are now urgently advising crypto holders on protective measures. Recommendations include using multi-signature (multi-sig) wallet setups that require approvals from parties in different geographic locations, making it impossible for a lone attacker to access funds. A paramount piece of advice is to practice extreme privacy and avoid showcasing wealth on social media, as gangs often use these platforms to identify targets.
