The theft of cryptocurrency evokes a particular, agonizing feeling. All transactions are recorded in a digital ledger known as the blockchain, so even if someone takes your money and puts it in their crypto wallet, it will still be visible online. This was reported by the BBC.
“You can see your money in the public blockchain, but it’s impossible to get it back,” says Helen, who lost about $315,000 (£250,000) to hackers.
She compares it to a situation where you watch a thief take your valuables over an insurmountable chasm.
For seven years, Helen and her husband Richard (name changed), living in the UK, collected Cardano cryptocurrency.
They liked the idea of investing in digital assets that had the potential for significant growth, unlike traditional ways of storing funds. They were aware of the risks but tried to protect their digital keys.
However, hackers somehow gained access to their cloud storage, where information about their wallets and access methods was kept.
In February 2024, after a small test transaction, the criminals executed a quick and stealthy attack, resulting in all the couple's funds being transferred to their own wallets.
For several months, Helen and Richard watched as their money moved from one wallet to another, unable to intervene. (The paradox of cryptocurrency is that all transactions are tracked, but users can remain anonymous if they choose.)
They were not wealthy individuals: Helen worked as a personal assistant, and Richard was a composer. Their hopes for investments in Cardano were high.
“We had been accumulating coins for a long time... We used every saved penny to buy more,” shares Richard. “This theft is the worst thing that has happened to me, aside from the death of my parents.”
Since then, Helen has decided to get her money back. She requested detailed reports from various police departments and Cardano developers. Despite having the criminals' wallet address, no one can take action to catch them.
Now their plan is to raise enough funds to hire private detectives and try to track down the hackers.
“It creates a feeling of helplessness,” says Helen. “But I will continue to fight.”
The rapid rise of cybercrime in the cryptocurrency sector.
According to a survey conducted by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in August 2024, about 12% of the adult population in the UK owns crypto assets, which corresponds to approximately seven million people.
It is estimated that there are 560 million cryptocurrency holders worldwide. However, as the number of cryptocurrency owners has increased, so has the number of thefts. The pandemic contributed to a sharp rise in cryptocurrency prices and, consequently, an increase in attacks on this sector.
2025 was a record year for crypto criminals: according to a study by Chainalysis, the total amount stolen exceeded $3.4 billion (£2.5 billion). Since 2020, this level has remained stable.
The majority of stolen funds result from large cyberattacks on cryptocurrency companies. For example, in February 2025, North Korean hackers robbed the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit of $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion).
In most cases, losses are covered by large crypto firms, which hardly affects individual investors. Nevertheless, in 2025, there was also an increase in attacks on private crypto investors.
According to Chainalysis, the number of attacks on individuals rose from 40,000 in 2022 to 80,000 in 2023.
Hacking, fraud, and coercion accounted for the theft of about 20% of all cryptocurrency, amounting to $713 million (£532 million).
However, this figure may be understated, as not all victims are willing to report thefts. In such cases, they may be left without assistance.
Many thefts in the traditional financial sector are covered by banks or card-issuing companies. In the UK, victims can file a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service and receive compensation through financial protection schemes.
“Cryptocurrencies in the UK remain largely unregulated and carry high risks,” says the FCA. “If something goes wrong, you are unlikely to be protected, so be prepared to lose all your funds.”
A striking example is an internet search for the query “hacked Binance account” — the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world with 1.4 million users in the UK, where the page with advice for theft victims is blocked.
Since 2023, the company has not been accepting new clients from the UK as it does not have a license from the FCA. Nevertheless, criminals do not pay attention to the location of their victims and continue to hunt them worldwide.
Chainalysis characterized attacks on individuals as “an under-researched area of crypto crime.”
The rise in crime is attributed to the increasing number of people entering the world of cryptocurrencies as investors amid rising coin prices, as well as improvements in security measures at major services, which may encourage perpetrators to seek easier targets among individuals.
The more cryptocurrency you have and the more you share this information, the higher the likelihood of becoming a target for scammers — small holders (or "hodlers") are less likely to become victims.
Hacks, robberies, and violent attacks.
Thieves can be anywhere.
In October, blockchain analysts from Elliptic, specializing in crypto analysis, warned that state-sponsored hackers from North Korea are increasingly targeting wealthy cryptocurrency owners. Among them are also many young scammers from other countries.
In December, in the US, 22-year-old Evan Tangeman confessed to participating in a group of crypto scammers called Social Engineering Enterprise, accused of stealing over $260 million (£194 million) between October 2023 and May 2025.
According to prosecutors, they used hacked databases to convince victims that they represented cryptocurrency exchanges and persuade them to transfer funds.
It is claimed that gang members — mostly young people from the US — spent the stolen money on private jets, luxury cars, and lavish accessories that they distributed in clubs.
According to prosecutors, in some cases, the gang organized home invasions to steal equipment with keys to crypto vaults.
Burglaries and robberies have become so common that a term “wrench attacks” has emerged in the crypto community, as criminals threaten victims with this tool.
In April last year in Spain, crypto miners attempted to force a man and a woman to part with their cryptocurrency.
Spanish police reported that the man was shot in the leg, and he and his partner were held captive while the criminals tried to access their wallets. Eventually, the woman was released, but the man was not found, and his body was later discovered in a forest.
In Spain, five people were arrested in connection with this case, and four others were charged in Denmark.
Similar incidents have also occurred in France, including one where an attempted kidnapping was captured on video.
In Paris, a masked group attempted to kidnap the family of a cryptocurrency company executive.
In another case that occurred in early 2025, David Balland, co-founder of Ledger, a cryptocurrency security company, was kidnapped from his home in central France along with his wife.
Several days later, they were rescued by the police, but Balland had a finger severed during the extortion attempt.
Last month, British police arrested six people after several masked men stopped a car on a route between Oxford and London and forced one of the passengers to transfer cryptocurrency worth £1.5 million.
Phil Ariss, director of public sector relations in the UK for TRM Labs, a blockchain analysis company, previously emphasized that criminal groups, already accustomed to violence, will always be inclined to use cryptocurrencies.
“As long as there is an opportunity to launder or realize stolen assets, it doesn’t matter to criminals whether the target is an expensive watch or a cryptocurrency wallet,” he claims.
“Cryptocurrency has become part of the mainstream, and our perception of physical threats and robberies must change accordingly.”
David Balland, co-founder of a cryptocurrency hardware development company, was rescued by the police.
It is difficult to determine how prevalent “wrench attacks” are, as they are rarely reported publicly. However, such thefts make up only a small part of the growing problem of personal cryptocurrency theft.
Many perpetrators employ tried-and-true hacking or fraud schemes that are becoming easier thanks to the availability of data obtained from large-scale cyberattacks on companies.
The number of Bitcoin millionaires is growing
“The issue of data leaks is relevant as the number of Bitcoin millionaires grows, and new stolen databases are constantly emerging, increasing the list of targets,” says Matthew Jones, founder of Haven, a cryptocurrency security company.
One of the hackers interviewed by the BBC cited the data leak from Kering, the parent company of luxury brands like Gucci and Balenciaga.
The leaks contain millions of names and contact details of customers, as well as information about their spending in stores.
The hacker, who spoke with BBC journalists, claims to have purchased spreadsheets for $300,000 (£224,000) to target high-value consumers.
He also stated that he used this data, along with information from another stolen database, to fraudulently extract at least $1.5 million (£1.1 million) in cryptocurrency from several Coinbase users.
Kering, which owns luxury brands such as Gucci and Balenciaga, recently faced a data leak affecting customer information.
The criminal confirmed possession of the stolen data and demonstrated to the BBC that he has $700,000 (£522,000) in Bitcoin, which he claims to have obtained from one of the victims.
“I buy hacked databases and match them with others to find wealthy people, as well as current phone numbers and email addresses. I still browse this list and quickly tripled my money,” he said.
The hacker refused to provide any details about himself, other than that he is a student at an American university.
When asked whether he considers himself a hacker or a scammer, he replied, “Neither, I’m only interested in making money.”
Kering did not respond to a request for comment, but previously stated to the BBC that its IT systems were secured after the data leak and that bank account numbers, credit card information, or government identification numbers were not stolen.
