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At the Baltic Honeybadger conference held on Saturday (August 9, 2025) in Riga, Latvia, SatoshiLabs founder Alena Vranova delivered a stark warning that silenced the audience.
Vranova discussed cases of wrench attacks, physical crimes, and kidnappings of Bitcoin/crypto owners to obtain private keys. Every week, at least one Bitcoiner falls victim to these crimes, either kidnapping or robbery. This threat targets not only whales or Bitcoin OGs, but also small-cap cryptocurrency holders. Vranova also mentioned cases of kidnappings of Bitcoin holders worth as little as $6,000, and even murders for Bitcoin worth $50,000. Therefore, by 2025, physical crypto crime will have doubled compared to the previous year.
According to Vranova, the correlation between Bitcoin prices and crypto crime will increase during bull markets, and vice versa. Furthermore, user data (KYC) leaks on centralized exchanges make it easier for criminals to find nearby targets.
Vranova discussed cases of wrench attacks, physical crimes, and kidnappings of Bitcoin/crypto owners to obtain private keys. Every week, at least one Bitcoiner falls victim to these crimes, either kidnapping or robbery. This threat targets not only whales or Bitcoin OGs, but also small-cap cryptocurrency holders. Vranova also mentioned cases of kidnappings of Bitcoin holders worth as little as $6,000, and even murders for Bitcoin worth $50,000. Therefore, by 2025, physical crypto crime will have doubled compared to the previous year.
According to Vranova, the correlation between Bitcoin prices and crypto crime will increase during bull markets, and vice versa. Furthermore, user data (KYC) leaks on centralized exchanges make it easier for criminals to find nearby targets.
