CertiK: Last year, physical attacks against cryptocurrency holders increased by 75% year-on-year, resulting in losses of over $40.9 million

According to Decrypt, the latest report from blockchain security company CertiK shows a surge in physical attacks (i.e., "violent attacks") targeting cryptocurrency holders in 2025, with a total of 72 recorded incidents throughout the year, a 75% increase year-on-year, resulting in losses exceeding $40.9 million.

The report states that such attacks have evolved from fringe risks to structural threats, with kidnapping becoming the most common method, and personal assault incidents increasing by 250% year-on-year. There has been a significant change in the geographic distribution of attacks: Europe has become the hardest-hit region, accounting for over 40% of global incidents, with France leading the world with 19 incidents; the U.S. share has drastically dropped from 36.6% in 2024 to 12.5%; Asia still accounts for about 33.3% of high-risk areas.

CertiK recommends that individual users adopt defensive strategies such as setting up decoy wallets, geographically isolating recovery phrases from hardware wallets, and reducing their public cryptocurrency footprint; institutions and high-net-worth individuals should consider implementing multi-signature wallet structures, setting up time-lock smart contracts, and developing executive protection protocols.