Cryptocurrency’s promise of financial freedom carries a cost the industry must confront: growing wealth can make its owners more attractive targets for violent criminals. Protecting digital assets while treating the physical safety of their holders as a personal matter is an inadequate approach to financial security.
The industry must take responsibility for designing products and services which account for the reality that people can be threatened into surrendering their assets.
The rise in “wrench attacks” – physical violence or threats used to force someone to surrender cryptocurrency – exposes this vulnerability. A wallet may resist sophisticated hacking while its owner remains vulnerable to coercion. When one person can immediately authorise the transfer of substantial wealth, that person and their family can become targets of criminal coercion.