What are ‘crypto kidnappings’ and why are they on the rise?

Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan was renting a luxury New York townhouse for $40,000 a month, enjoying the fruits of his highly lucrative investments successful cryptocurrency. But successful May, his 17-room Manhattan location became a torture enclosure successful which helium was held by kidnappers for 17 days.

Carturan’s captors, John Woeltz and William Duplessie, who wanted entree to his cryptocurrency accounts, utilized brutal methods successful their bid to prise unfastened Carturan’s Bitcoin wallet, purportedly containing immoderate $28m worthy of cryptocurrency. Among different torture methods, they hung him from the building’s roof, shocked him with electrical wires and threatened him with a chainsaw.

When each other failed, they forced him to fume ace cocaine. Ultimately, they were unsuccessful. After much than 2 gruelling weeks, Carturan managed to flight the townhouse and Woeltz and Duplessie were subsequently arrested and charged with kidnapping and assault.

William Duplessie appears successful Manhattan Criminal Court arsenic an indictment is prepared to beryllium handed down for his engagement successful a cryptocurrency kidnapping, successful New York City, connected May 30, 2025 [Jefferson Siegel/Pool via Reuters]

Carturan’s ordeal was 1 of the latest successful a spate of “wrench attacks”, which see alleged “crypto kidnappings”, combining high-tech cybertheft with old-fashioned thuggery and person been taking spot successful respective countries astir the world.

Have arrests for crypto kidnapping attacks been made elsewhere?

Yes. On May 31, 26 radical were charged for respective attempted kidnappings of a apical fig successful France’s cryptocurrency world, French prosecutors said.

It was the culmination of a constabulary probe into an “attempted kidnapping by an organised gang” of the girl and grandson of the CEO of crypto steadfast Paymium successful Paris connected May 13, and “other unsuccessful plans”, a failed effort connected the aforesaid targets the time before, and different effort adjacent the occidental metropolis of Nantes connected June 2.

“Eighteen radical person been placed successful pre-trial detention, 3 person requested a deferred hearing, and 4 person been placed nether judicial supervision,” the Paris nationalist prosecutor’s bureau said, concerning the Paris attack. The suspects are each aged betwixt 16 and 23.

France has been the centre of respective attacks connected salient crypto entrepreneurs successful caller months. But crypto-linked kidnappings person occurred successful different countries, too.

A pistillate walks her canine connected Rue Pache, adjacent the determination wherever a masked pack attempted to kidnap the girl and grandson of a crypto businessman successful Paris, France [Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters]

Where other person crypto kidnappings taken place?

In summation to the caller attempted abductions successful Paris, a radical of criminals kidnapped David Balland, cofounder of the cryptocurrency steadfast Ledger, and his woman successful cardinal France successful January.

In a peculiarly gruesome crook of events, the kidnappers chopped disconnected 1 of Balland’s fingers and sent the video of the mutilation to Ledger. Within 2 days, however, the French gendarmerie had freed some victims.

Nine suspects are nether transgression probe successful that case.

In December 2024, the woman of crypto capitalist and influencer Stephane Winkel was kidnapped from the couple’s location successful Belgium. She was rescued aft her kidnapper crashed his car during a melodramatic constabulary chase.

Canada and Australia person besides witnessed high-profile kidnappings, with crypto executives and traders abducted and forced to wage ransoms ranging from $40,000 to $1m successful integer assets.

It is unclear whether the caller spate of crypto kidnappings is connected successful immoderate way.

What is cryptocurrency?

Bitcoin, which began trading successful January 2009, was the precise archetypal cryptocurrency. This signifier of monetary speech allows radical to bypass cardinal banks and accepted outgo methods. It is present a functioning, decentralised monetary system, with hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

Bitcoin was archetypal utilized successful a transaction successful 2009, valued astatine conscionable $0.004 per Bitcoin. Yesterday, Bitcoin’s terms closed astatine astir $101,576 per Bitcoin – astir 53 percent higher than a twelvemonth ago, and astir 2.5 trillion percent points higher than successful 2009.

Initially, the integer currency was favoured by net libertarians who were drawn to the thought that wealth should beryllium escaped from authorities interference. It rapidly gained much mainstream popularity, and the terms has changeable up.

More recently, United States President Donald Trump has taken steps to mint respective cryptocurrencies, meaning they would beryllium included successful a “Crypto Strategic Reserve”, boosting their terms adjacent much successful the process.

While cryptocurrency thefts are thing new, they person historically progressive hacking integer accounts holding ample sums of the currency. In 2022, for instance, net thieves stole an estimated $570m from Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange.

But arsenic Bitcoin and different integer assets proceed to ascent successful value, criminals are shifting their efforts from online hacking to real-world extortion, via kidnappings and torture.

How bash criminals people victims successful crypto kidnappings?

Victims are not hard to find.

Some crypto tycoons, galore of whom are young men, person a wont of flaunting their wealthiness connected societal media oregon by appearing astatine cryptocurrency conferences, which allows criminals to easy place targets.

Many person continued to flaunt their wealthiness successful spite of the 2016 Kim Kardashian kidnapping incident. The US world TV prima was tied up successful her edifice country successful Paris arsenic robbers made disconnected with millions of dollars worthy of jewellery. The men – dubbed the “grandpa robbers” due to the fact that of their ages – were aboriginal caught and sentenced to situation by a French court.

That was not a crypto attack, but arsenic much crypto tycoons person appeared, determination is small to differentiate them from the fabulously affluent similar the Kardashians.

Even those with ample crypto wealthiness who are much cautious astir displaying their wealthiness connected societal media and successful nationalist person been exposed to transgression enactment via information breaches astatine cryptocurrency exchanges, however.

In May 2025, Coinbase Global announced that hackers had managed to get idiosyncratic information, including the location addresses of astir 70,000 customers successful the erstwhile fewer months, putting thousands astatine hazard of onslaught oregon extortion.

Besides hacking the accounts of crypto millionaires for this benignant of information, criminals person besides bribed insiders astatine crypto exchanges for lawsuit data. This accusation is past utilized to prime and find high-value targets for kidnappings oregon location invasions.

Why are crypto kidnappings connected the rise?

It is easier to bargain wealth from a integer wallet than from a accepted slope account, and kidnapping is 1 mode to bash this.

Attackers simply request to summation entree to someone’s cryptocurrency relationship password, arsenic there’s nary third-party fiscal instauration to support the funds held successful the integer wallet.

Transactions connected an open-ledger blockchain – the exertion which facilitates cryptocurrencies – are besides permanent, meaning transactions are irreversible.

And, dissimilar cash, jewellery and gold, thieves don’t request to transportation distant the stolen cryptocurrency with them. With a fewer clicks, wealth tin simply beryllium moved from 1 relationship to another.

Furthermore, cryptocurrency’s quality to skirt accepted instrumentality enforcement besides means it is overmuch easier to launder, making it fashionable with internet-based cause dealers.

Therefore, if criminals tin unit a unfortunate to springiness up their account, they tin summation contiguous entree to immense wealthiness – hence the emergence successful carnal attacks and kidnappings.

Can you get security against a crypto kidnapping?

Yes, you can. At slightest 3 security companies which supply services for cryptocurrency investors are successful the process of designing policies specifically for abductions, called kidnap and ransom (K&R) policies, according to a study by NBC News.

Becca Rubenfeld, main operating serviceman astatine AnchorWatch – a crypto security steadfast aiming to motorboat K&R extortion aboriginal this twelvemonth – said that fearfulness of unit was a cardinal talking constituent astatine this year’s yearly Las Vegas Bitcoin Conference, successful May.

“They’re [cryptocurrency holders are] tense,” Rubenfeld told NBC. “I’m not saying that due to the fact that I’m trying to merchantability insurance, but overall, the temper is simply a precise bully situation for me.”

Kidnapping and ransom security is not uncommon for high-profile firm executives.

What other are crypto investors doing to enactment safe?

Elsewhere, information experts are urging investors to debar sharing details of their crypto holdings online, adjacent with friends, and to usage pseudonyms and caller integer wallet addresses for each transaction.

Increasingly, crypto traders are avoiding making societal media posts with geotagged photos, particularly immoderate that amusement themselves with luxury items, oregon revealing their question plans.