Alena Vranova, founder of Satoshilabs, warned against the increase in key attacks, physical assaults and abductions against Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto holders to try to steal their private keys.
“Each week, there is a bitcoiner, at least one in the world, which is kidnapped, tortured, extorted and sometimes worse,” said Vranova to the public during the Baltic Honeybadger 2025 conference in Riga, in Latvia.
She warned that even small cryptographic investors can be on the radar of violent criminals looking for a target. She added:
“What seems to be a problem only for Bitcoin Ogs is not really the case. We have seen cases of kidnappings for as little as $ 6,000 in crypto, and we saw murdered people for $ 50,000 in crypto.”
The increase in key attacks against crypto holders is a disturbing trend, with physical attacks against bitcoins in 2025 on the right track to double the worst year ever recorded, which prompted the personal security countermeasures of investors, developers and industry leaders.
In relation: Key attacks lead cryptographic investors to centralized guards
Centralized data leaks magnify the threat of key attack
Data leaks from centralized cryptography exchanges, which collects sensitive user information in Know-You-Customer (KYC) requirements, and other centralized software providers that collect customer data, allow violent criminals to target crypto holders and their families.
“We currently have more than 80 million identities of Bitcoiner and Crypto users disclosed online; 2.2 million of these contain domestic addresses,” said Vranova.
These attacks are correlated with bitcoin prices, and the frequency of attacks increases on the bruise markets, she added.
In May, Crypto Exchange Coinbase revealed a violation of data that disclosed the information of a small subset of Coinbase customers, which included domestic addresses and other identification information.
In June, a cybernews report discovered databases containing more than 16 billion user connection identification disclosed from platforms like Apple, Facebook and Google.
The password leak has a negative impact on crypto holders, which will now be subject to an increase in phishing, social engineering, hacking, identity theft and other types of targeted scams designed to steal user data and funds.
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