Crypto 'Wrench Attacks' Top $100M in Losses in Just Four Months — and the Pace Is Accelerating!

Criminal groups have extracted more than $100 million from crypto holders through physical coercion in the first four months of 2026, according to CertiK, with verified global incidents up 41% year-over-year to 34 cases. The firm projects the full-year count could reach roughly 130 incidents, with total losses running into the several hundred million dollar range — surpassing 2025, which was already described as the most active year on record for crypto-related physical assaults.

Europe, and France in particular, has become the epicenter. French authorities identified 41 incidents since January — roughly one attack every two and a half days — a concentration linked to industry visibility, public events, and data leakage. A tax official at France's General Directorate of Public Finances was accused of using government software to identify crypto holders and sell their data to criminal…