In brief
- Five people have been arrested in Spain over an April kidnapping and murder in Málaga, in which attackers allegedly tried to force access to the victims’ crypto wallets.
- Four suspects in Denmark have also been charged.
- The case is the latest in a growing number of “wrench attacks” targeting crypto holders.
Spanish Policía Nacional officers have dismantled an organization allegedly involved in the kidnapping and murder of a man in Málaga earlier this year, the agency announced on Wednesday.
In April, the group assaulted a couple and, after shooting the man in the leg, forced them both into a house where they were held for several hours. The kidnappers reportedly attempted to access the victims’ digital wallets to steal cryptocurrency. The woman was eventually released and contacted authorities, while her partner remained missing until his body was later discovered in a wooded area nearby.
Five suspects have been arrested in Spain, and four others currently in Denmark have been charged. Two of those charged are already imprisoned for similar offenses. The operation was carried out in coordination with Danish police.
Searches uncovered two handguns (one real, one replica), an expandable baton, a balaclava, blood-stained trousers, and biological evidence matching blood found at the property where the victims were held.
Crypto “wrench attacks”
The case is part of a growing wave of so-called “wrench attacks,” physical assaults aimed at forcing victims to unlock crypto wallets. These incidents have escalated this year alongside Bitcoin’s record highs.
Wrench attacks have “become a serious issue since last year,” Ong Zi Jiang, OTC sales executive at Coinut told Decrypt, pointing to a worsening post-Covid macro-economic situation as driving a growing number of burglary and snatching cases.
However, he emphasized that the industry should not be judged by the crimes. “I don’t think it is damaging the crypto industry’s reputation, as we should not be judging the victims,” he said. “Instead, we should be reprimanding the criminals as they are committing crimes.”
Security specialists have documented a notable rise in such attacks in 2025. Jameson Lopp, CTO of security firm Casa, has tracked at least 66 physical crypto-related assaults this year, including kidnappings and home invasions targeting investors, influencers, family members and even crypto exchange offices.
Incidents include the attempted abduction of a French crypto executive’s daughter and grandchild, an American tourist drugged in London by a fake Uber driver who drained $123,000 from his wallets, and an attack on Ledger co-founder David Balland in which one of his fingers was severed. Several similar mutilation cases were also reported in France.
Similar high profile cases have also occurred in Asia, Africa and the Americas.
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