Crypto Wealth Paints A Target. The Security Playbook Is Adapting

Forbes

24-06-2025

BERLIN, GERMANY - JANUARY 29: Symbolic photo for data protection, reflection of Bitcoins, an online ... More payment system, in a computer hard drive on January 29, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)
The rise of crypto wealth has brought with it an unsettling reality: physical danger. In recent months, a wave of assaults, kidnappings, and extortion attempts has shaken the crypto elite, forcing many to rethink the true cost of self-custody and the limits of their current security setups.
In May 2025, the escalation became painfully clear. In Paris, the father of a crypto entrepreneur was abducted while walking his dog. Kidnappers severed his finger and sent ransom videos to his son. He was rescued by French police, who arrested several suspects. Days later, attackers targeted the daughter and grandson of Paymium CEO Pierre Noizat in a failed daylight kidnapping, also in Paris. In New York, an Italian man was captured and tortured for 17 days for his bitcoin fortune before escaping. His captors were arrested shortly after.
These are not isolated cases. In January, Ledger co-founder David Balland and his wife were taken hostage at their home in Vierzon, France. In 2024, authorities arrested six men in Connecticut after forcing a couple from their car in a plot allegedly tied to the couple's son, who was accused of stealing over $240 million in bitcoin. The same year, a New York judge sentenced Remy Ra St. Felix to 47 years in prison for leading a violent home invasion ring that specifically targeted crypto holders.
Crypto crime has spilled offline. It's no longer just about hacks; it's home invasions, kidnappings, and coercion. Crypto holders must now redefine what security truly means.
Private Keys, Public Threats
The risk stems not only from crypto's libertarian aura—it's baked into the architecture. Private keys—alphanumeric strings that grant access to crypto wallets—are stored by crypto holders themselves, beyond the reach of banks, courts, or account freezes. A single 24-word seed phrase may control billions of dollars, and once compromised, there's no reversing the damage.
This creates a high-stakes vulnerability. As crypto holders become increasingly savvy online, criminals start resorting to physical attacks. Social media only amplifies the risk. Some crypto advocates are prominent by choice; others inadvertently advertise their wealth. Either way, they become visible, traceable, and ultimately targetable.
Data leaks only compound the exposure. Last month, Coinbase disclosed a breach affecting under 1% of its active users. The incident involved sensitive data, including full names, home addresses, government-issued IDs, and masked financial details. The breach was reportedly caused by bribed support staff, underscoring that internal threats are often as dangerous as external hacks.
Making matters worse, careless regulatory approaches often exacerbate the risk. Government regulations, while well-intentioned, increasingly require centralized collection of wallet addresses and user identities. Rules like the FATF's 'travel rule' and Europe's Transfer of Funds Regulation mandate exchanges to store and transmit identity-linked transaction data, even for withdrawals to self-hosted wallets. The U.S. has proposed similar measures through FinCEN. These policies expose users to the same doxxing vulnerabilities common in traditional database breaches, but without the safety net of TradFi. Once a crypto address is tied to a real-world identity and leaked, it becomes a permanent map of a user's financial history—traceable, targetable, and irreversible.
The scale of security spending among crypto executives illustrates just how seriously the risk is being taken. According to Bloomberg, Coinbase has spent $6.2 million on personal security for CEO Brian Armstrong in 2024. This is more than JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Nvidia spent on their top executives combined. Circle allocated $800,000 to protect CEO Jeremy Allaire. Robinhood spent $1.6 million to secure Vlad Tenev.
Most crypto users, however, cannot afford personal bodyguards or private intelligence teams. Many turn to custodial solutions—ETFs, centralized exchanges, or third-party vaults. These offer an escape from the burden of personal key management, but at the cost of reintroducing trusted intermediaries—which defies the very idea of trustless, independent money.
Real-World Security For Crypto Holders
For those committed to self-custody, a new playbook is emerging.
Speaking at the Bitcoin Investor event in New York, co-founder of bitcoin security service provider Casa, Jameson Lopp, outlined the core principles of self-custody in a world where physical threats to crypto holders are on the rise.
The solution, according to Lopp, is to decentralize control through multi-signature wallets, which require multiple keys to authorize a transaction. Ideally, those keys are distributed across different geographic locations, devices, and operational protocols. Another essential principle is time. In coercive attacks—such as home invasions or kidnappings—attackers typically seek speed. Timelocks—programmed delays that prevent immediate asset transfers—can buy critical minutes or hours.
That said, multisig isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. It can involve trusted collaborators or be configured for a single individual with keys spread across different environments. The strength of a self-custody setup lies in diversity across hardware, software, physical conditions, and even resilience to natural disasters.
Lopp also stressed that strong privacy is the foundation of both personal and asset security. Public exposure of crypto holdings—whether through social media or leaked data—dramatically increases the likelihood of being targeted.
In his view, robust security is multi-layered. Each added layer—whether it's location separation, transaction delay, or operational secrecy—compounds the difficulty for potential attackers.
Beyond multisig and timelocks, several other tools can help reduce the risks of real-world threats. Some hardware wallets, like Coldcard and Trezor, support hidden wallets protected by a passphrase, providing plausible deniability under coercion. Others use decoy wallets funded with small amounts, designed to appease attackers without giving up access to the primary stash.
Smart contract wallets like Safe (formerly Gnosis Safe) and Argent offer social recovery mechanisms, enabling trusted contacts to help restore access in the event of loss or compromise.
For high-risk profiles, emergency vault sweep systems—automated transactions that trigger if the owner fails to check in—can serve as a final layer of protection.
Crypto security is no longer just about digital hygiene. What started with passwords and seed phrases must now account for physical risks, operational discipline, and situational awareness. As crypto wealth grows, so does the need for a security mindset that matches its scale and stakes.