A larger archive, not a sudden wave
Jameson Lopp’s public record of physical Bitcoin attacks now lists about 702 cases going back to 2014. The jump came after researcher Pizza Bitcoiner ran AI-assisted searches through local-language news reports, court records and police files. Lopp announced the update on X on Oct. 16, 2026, and credited the researcher for finding hundreds of reports that earlier work missed. The key point is that the number did not double because attacks suddenly doubled. Documentation got better. That distinction matters, I think, because crime data often looks like a trend when it is really a record-keeping change.
What the records show
Pizza Bitcoiner’s database covers 670 verified incidents in 72 countries from January 2020 to mid-October 2026. About 375 of those were missing from Lopp’s earlier collection, and roughly 351 were added. The combined archive includes home invasions, kidnappings, violent robberies and extortion. Among the 670 cases, 413 involved victims held against their will, 300 involved injuries, and 31 ended in deaths. Reported losses reached about $394 million across 447 cases with available figures. Annual records rose from 37 incidents in 2020 to 165 in 2025, with another 134 logged through mid-October 2026. France stands out as a hotspot, and the United States also appears often in the data.
The physical side of Bitcoin security
A wrench attack is not a cryptographic exploit. The term comes from an XKCD comic about coercion: a criminal can threaten the person who holds the keys instead of breaking the wallet. Multisignature setups, separated keys and spending delays can make forced transfers harder. They cannot remove the risk of violence. Public posts about holdings, leaked personal details and in-person trades can also help attackers pick targets. Neither archive claims to be complete. Many cases go unreported or never reach searchable records. The striking part is not that hundreds of new attacks happened recently. It is that hundreds had already happened and stayed out of view. Pizza Bitcoiner said the search pipeline will run weekly, adding new cases and updating old ones. For holders, the lesson is plain: digital security is only one layer, and personal safety deserves the same attention.
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