Can panic wallets stop a wrench? Why crypto’s next security debate is physical
Jameson Lopp’s wrench attack data shows physical assaults on crypto holders surging in 2025, forcing a reckoning over whether self‑custody is worth the physical risk.
On Dec. 1 in Val‑d’Oise, France, the father of a Dubai‑based crypto entrepreneur was kidnapped off the street. It was another entry in Jameson Lopp’s directory of 225‑plus verified physical attacks on digital asset holders.
The database that Lopp, chief security officer at Bitcoin wallet Casa, has maintained for six years, shows the pace of coercion rising fast, with a 169% jump in reported physical attacks in 2025.
The risk itself isn’t unique to crypto: Gold brokers, luxury resellers, even cash couriers have faced violence for centuries. What’s new is that digital assets are now being stolen face‑to‑face.