‘Wrench attacks’ subject some cryptocurrency holders to violence, kidnapping [Video]

Police in two cases in the United States, and one in France, allege that brutal assaults were tied to cryptocurrency-related crimes that have spilled out from behind computer screens and into the real world as the largely unregulated currency surges in value. 

The alleged attempted robberies fall into a category often described as a “wrench attack.” It’s a name popularized by an online comic that mocked how easily high-tech security can be undone by hitting someone with a wrench until they give up passwords.

Wrench attacks are on the rise thanks in part to cryptocurrency’s move into mainstream finance, Phil Ariss of the crypto tracing firm TRM Labs said in a recent blog post.

Violence may be increasing for several reasons including that criminals believe they can get away with crypto theft because transactions are hard to trace and often cloaked by anonymity, TRM says.

“As long as there’s a viable route to launder or liquidate stolen assets, …