Physical attacks on crypto holders have spiked sharply in 2026, with roughly $30 million stolen in so-called wrench attacks by mid-year. The tactic — forcing victims at gunpoint or under threat of violence to hand over their keys — has turned what used to be a cybersecurity problem into a street-level one. France has emerged as the clearest hotspot.
The mid-year tally
By the end of June, reported losses from wrench attacks had reached about $30 million, according to figures compiled so far this year. That's a sharp jump for a crime type that barely registered in past years. And the official count almost certainly understates the problem. Victims are often reluctant to tell police they were targeted for crypto, and smaller thefts may never get reported at all.
France in focus
France stands out from every other country in the data. The concentration of attacks there has made it a central concern for local authorities and for anyone holding digital assets in the country. For French holders, the threat isn't abstract — it's a question of whether carrying a phone with a wallet app makes you a target in public.
A threat that doesn't need malware
Wrench attacks don't require any technical skill. The name comes from the old joke that a wrench is the fastest way to extract a password from someone. In practice, the playbook is simple: follow a victim, corner them, and demand they unlock their wallet and move funds immediately. No phishing email, no compromised exchange, no exploit — just pressure applied in person.
No easy fix
The spike leaves the industry with questions it hasn't answered. Exchanges can freeze stolen funds if they're flagged quickly, but a wrench attack often ends with the money moved to a fresh wallet within minutes. The usual advice — keep keys offline, use multisig, don't broadcast your holdings — only goes so far when someone is standing over your shoulder.
Whether the trend keeps climbing is the open question. Mid-year numbers already put 2026 on pace to be the worst year on record for these attacks, and France's status as a hotspot shows the problem isn't confined to any single region. Until someone finds a way to make physical coercion useless against a wallet, the question isn't whether more holders get targeted. It's who's next.
