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A list of known attacks against Bitcoin / crypto asset owning entities that occurred in meatspace.

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Known Physical Bitcoin Attacks

A list of known attacks against Bitcoin / crypto asset owning entities that occurred in meatspace. NOTE: this list is not comprehensive; many attacks are not publicly reported.

Readers may be interested in this relevant presentation: "The Hodlguard- a primer on physical security in Bitcoin" and slides.

Date Victim Location Description
December 29, 2014 Hal Finney Santa Barbara , California Bitcoin developer SWATted after months of harrassment & extortion
January 3, 2015 Amanda McCollum Atlanta, Georgia BTM thieves strike smoke shop, fire gun
January 22, 2015 Martin Wismeijer Amsterdam, Netherlands Thieves steal 2 bitcoin ATMs
February, 2015 Dean Katz New York, New York Bitcoin trader robbed of $12,000 at gunpoint
May 27, 2015 Dwayne Richards New York, New York Firefighter kidnapped, robbed of $1,100, & stabbed by crypto thieves
November 16, 2015 Robert Nederhoed Delft, Netherlands Thieves steal bitcoin ATM containing 2,000 EUR
July 11, 2016 Tadas Kasputis Kaunas, Lithuania Cryptocurrency executive kidnapped at car wash
July 25, 2016 Steve Manos West Palm Beach, Florida Bitcoin trader robbed of $28,000 at gunpoint
August 14, 2016 Multiple Toronto, Ontario Police arrest teens in string of bitcoin-related robberies
November 6, 2016 Tivoli Brasserie Oudenbosch, Netherlands Dutch Bitcoin ATM Owner Laughs at Thieves Who Took His Machine
February 16, 2017 Josoj London, England Description of robbery during Localbitcoins trade with Bitcoin Uncensored interview and the robber's side of the story.
February 26, 2017 Rocelo Lopes' wife Florianopolis, Brazil Wife of crypto exchange owner kidnapped and ransomed
March 14, 2017 3 Indian Bitcoin traders Dubai, UAE 3 Emiratis pose as cops, kidnap victims and rob them of 25 BTC
June 17, 2017 Miyuki Noda Gifu, Japan Woman strangled, attacker takes 100,000 yen worth of BTC
September 4, 2017 Alexey Sherstne Kiev, Ukraine Man tortured for $50k in Bitcoins
October 16, 2017 Jameson Lopp Durham, North Carolina Bitcoin developer SWATted & extorted
October, 2017 Multiple Toulouse, France 4 bitcoin traders robbed at gunpoint
October, 2017 Multiple Los Angeles, California "Discount Bitcoin Bandits" committed 5 robberies at gunpoint
November 4, 2017 Unidentified New York, New York Man robbed of $1.8M of ETH
November 15, 2017 Unidentified Istanbul, Turkey Gang stole $2.83M in BTC from businessman
December, 2017 Unidentified Reykjavik, Iceland 600 Bitcoin ASICs stolen and Follow-up Story
December 26, 2017 Pavel Lerner Kiev, Ukraine Bitcoin exchange owner kidnapped & ransomed
January 3, 2018 "Dallas" Milwaukee, Wisconsin Convicted felon accused of firing gun inside downtown Milwaukee condo during Bitcoin sale
January 14, 2018 Pavel Nyashin Leningrad Oblast, Russia Blogger Who Boasted About Crypto Wealth Beaten and Robbed For $425k
January 15, 2018 Maxsim Latsoka & Anna Nikurina Phuket, Thailand Russian gang steals 100,000 Euros in BTC from young Russian couple
January 18, 2018 ____ Lee North Point, Hong Kong Bitcoin trader lured to bogus meeting and robbed of HK$1.4M
January 23, 2018 Canadian Bitcoins Ottawa, Canada Failed armed robbery attempt of Canadian bitcoin exchange
January 27, 2018 Danny Aston & Amy Jay Moulsford, Oxfordshire, England Armed home invasion of Bitcoin trading firm owner
January 29, 2018 Unidentified Cumming, Georgia Five men arrested for planning armed home invasion of bitcoin owner
January 2018 Unidentified Odessa, Ukraine Several men pose as bitcoin sellers, beat and rob buyer of 1.5 Million UAH ($57,000 USD
February 9, 2018 Sailesh Bhatt Amreli, India Police Officers Beat, Extorted 200 BTC from Businessman
February 21, 2018 ____ Tai Taichung, Taiwan Four men assault bitcoin seller & transfer 18 BTC
February 23, 2018 Yury Mayorov Moscow, Russia Crypto Developer Beaten, Robbed Of 300 BTC
February 23, 2018 Unidentified Moscow, Russia Crypto investor has face mutilated, robbed of $1M in BTC
March 2018 Undisclosed woman Killingly, Connecticut 2 women invaded home of another woman who had opened a "Bitcoin account" in the name of one of the attackers and used it to steal her money.
March 2018 Unidentified Miner Kiev, Ukraine Miner kidnapped, extorted for $50,000. Kidnappers caught 8 months later.
March 22, 2018 Multiple gas stations Irving & Mesquite, Texas Robbers douse clerks with pepper spray, steal from Bitcoin ATMs in Irving and Mesquite
April 8, 2018 Pang Joon Hau Singapore Man seeking to buy BTC robbed of $365,000
April 11, 2018 Ryan Rice Miami, Florida Bitcoin buyer shoots robber in self defense
April 25, 2018 2 unidentified Asian brothers Dubai, UAE Gang of 10 robbed two brothers of AED 7m ($1.9m) in cash who were looking to buy Bitcoin
June 6, 2018 Unidentified 22-year-old Milan, Italy Robbers attempt bitcoin purchase with counterfeit money, beat victims and fire gun, take 50,000 euros
June 13, 2018 "Synth" China Home invasion of Skycoin architect resulted in theft of 18.88 BTC and 6,466 SKY
June 19, 2018 Unidentified Wels, Austria $250,000 in cryptocurrency taken by robbers posing as postmen
July 6, 2018 Austin Nedved Northborough, Massachussetts Armed home invasion of Localbitcoins trader
September 7, 2018 Nicholas Truglia New York, New York Friends accused of torturing pal to steal his cryptocurrency
November ?, 2018 Kieran Hamilton Manchester, England Crypto trader stabbed, robbed by home invaders
November 16, 2018 Andrew ______ Lanseria, South Africa Bitcoin trader drugged, beaten, and tortured before transferring BTC to attackers
February 10, 2019 Tjeerd H. Drouwenerveen, Netherlands Bitcoin trader tortured with drill
March 12, 2019 Costcutters Far Cotton, Northampton, England Bitcoin machine stolen during robbery
May 14, 2019 Undisclosed Oslo, Norway Bitcoin millionaire escapes armed home invader by jumping off balcony
June 30, 2019 Luftan Shaikh, Mohammad Shazad, Malang Shah Jaipur, Rajasthan, India Criminal Gang Abducts & Tortures Cryptocurrency Traders, Demands 80 BTC Ransom
July 15, 2019 Bitcoin Exchange Sparkhill, Birmingham, England Masked raiders hold up Bitcoin Exchange in front of dozens of witnesses
July 26, 2019 Unidentified Wels, Austria Man raided in office (en)
August 26, 2019 Abdul Shakoor Dehradun, India Kingpin of Kerala bitcoin scam murdered in Dehradun
November 19, 2019 Simply Delicious Food Market Vernon, British Columbia Thieves break into BTM
January ?, 2020 Iroro Wisdom Ovie Abraka, Nigeria Man shot & killed by home invaders seeking $10,000 in bitcoin
January ?, 2020 17 y/o trader Preston, Lancashire, England Trader lured to apartment, kidnapped, driven around in car trunk.
January 8, 2020 Mark Cheng Jin Quan Bangkok, Thailand Blockchain advisor kidnapped, held at gunpoint, extorted for $60,000 in bitcoin
January 21, 2020 Mayfair Quick Mart Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2 men break into BTM, steal cash box
February 10, 2020 Unidentified couple Carlisle, England Home invaders force victims to create crypto exchange accounts
May 17, 2020 Le Duc Nguyen Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam HCMC cops charged with $1.6 mln bitcoin robbery. Follow-up article here.
May 19, 2020 Exxon Gas Station East Lansdowne, Pennsylvania 2 subjects pry open BTM in broad daylight
May 23, 2020 Ellis Pinsky Irvinton, NY 2 men commit home invasion of hacker, seeking tens of millions of dollars in bitcoin
September, 2020 Male Freshman Kent, England Student robbed of bitcoin at knifepoint during first week at university.
October 1, 2020 Unidentified Kiev, Ukraine Police kidnap a businessman, torture him, and force his wife to send them 7 bitcoin.
October 7, 2020 Mike's Produce Kelowna, BC, Canada Botched Bitcoin theft destroys deli
October 22, 2020 Undisclosed Riga, Latvia Man arrested for planning kidnapping and killing owners of cryptocurrencies
December ?, 2020 Undisclosed Dubai, UAE 4 Ukrainian men attack Bitcoin buyer with deoderant
December 24, 2020 Undisclosed Ternopil, Ukraine Man kidnapped and tortured for $800k
Unknown, 2021 Dillon Attard Sliema, Malta Victim describes his disbelief as $700,000 stolen in front of him
January 5, 2021 37 y/o man Chai Wan, Hong Kong Robbers take US$387,000 in cash, 15BTC from man after in-person trade
January 18, 2021 Unidentified Woman Kwun Tong, Hong Kong Gang snatches HK$3.5 million from trader at knifepoint
January 23, 2021 Physical Exchange Employees Osztyn, Poland Two employees shot at physical Bitcoin exchange FlyingAtom
February 4, 2021 Married Couple Stockholm, Sweden Armed robbers invade home and force owners to hand over 1M+ SEK in BTC
February ?, 2021 Swiss & German Gujranwala, Pakistan Armed robbers take $93k in BTC at gunpoint
March 10, 2021 Bank director Recife, Brazil Man kidnapped by a gang , tied up, and had two teeth knocked out. He was released after he instructed his partner to transfer 4.78 BTC to the attackers.
March 16, 2021 29 y/o Berlin man Munich, Germany Robbers steal bitcoin worth almost 100,000 Euros
March 18, 2021 "F.T." Mendoza, Argentina Armed robbers steal iPhone, $5k at gunpoint
April 8, 2021 30 year old miner Zaporizhya, Ukraine Mining farm owner shoots at looters
April 13, 2021 Undisclosed Calgary, Alberta, Canada Armed men force their way into Canyon Meadows home, steal cryptocurrency keys
May, 2021 14 y/o boy Bradford, UK Teen bitcoin trader kidnapped & ransomed
May, 2021 ___ Ghershony Bethesda, Maryland Son drugs father, steals $400K in BTC
June 11, 2021 40 y/o man Gyeonggi Province, South Korea Woman drugs man she met on chat app, steals $87K from his phone.
June 14, 2021 22 y/o man Kwun Tong, Hong Kong Trader temporarily blinded, HK$2 million stolen
June 24, 2021 39 y/o man Leeuwarden, Netherlands 3 men posing as service technicians beat password out of Bitcoin owner
July, 2021 Unidentified man Omsk, Russia 3 men kidnap and extort over $1M in crypto from victim
July 1, 2021 Unidentified man Unknown Bitcoin holder drugged and robbed by Tinder date
July 14, 2021 Morakinyo Peter & Yusuf Dayo Lagos, Nigeria Law Enforcement Officers rob 2 men of $50K USD in bitcoin at gunpoint
July 28, 2021 39 y/o man Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong Trader robbed of HK$3 million at knifepoint
August ?, 2021 3 women Dubai, UAE 4 Africans rob three women of $100,000 in a fake Bitcoin deal
August 8, 2021 Wesley Pessano Santarem Sao Pedro da Aldeia, Brazil Crypto Trader's Murder Blamed On Social Media Bragging
August 18, 2021 Simon Arthuis Plancher-Bas, France Computer engineering student killed for €200,000 in cryptocurrency
September ?, 2021 Unidentified 31 y/o Abkhazia Thieves break into garage, steal 20 mining servers worth $10,000.
September 9, 2021 Mark Geor Westmere, New Zealand Safe containing $4M of cryptocurrency ripped from house
October, 2021 Miner Tomsk, Russia Armed Robbers attack Miner at his Home, Steal 86 BTC
October 7, 2021 Liquor Store South Bay, California Thieves Break Into Liquor Store to Steal Bitcoin ATM
October 20, 2021 Astamur Ardzibna Abkhazia Man Shot Dead in Hail of Gunfire Over Crypto Mining Rigs
November 2, 2021 Zaryn Dentzel Madrid, Spain Home invaders torture social media founder, take tens of millions of euros in bitcoin
November 6, 2021 39 y/o trader Hong Kong Crypto trader kidnapped by Triad gang, beaten with hammers
November 12, 2021 GBTC Crypto Exchange Barcelona, Spain Thieves rip bitcoin ATM from crypto store
December ?, 2021 Unidentified Family Sukhumi, Abkhazia 2 masked men break into home, hold family at gunpoint before escaping with three servers and $2,040 in cash.
December 11, 2021 Camilla Guadagnuolo & Principe Nerini Bali, Indonesia Robbers take $400K in cash & bitcoin at knifepoint
December 15, 2021 Vincent Everts Amsterdam, Netherlands Armed home invaders threaten TV personality during livestream
December 27, 2021 2 unidentified males Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada 11 Inmates take 2 inmates hostage, force them to transfer cryptocurrency
January 16, 2022 Gas Station Memphis, TN Suspects smash gas station with truck, steal Bitcoin ATM
January 21, 2022 34 y/o teacher Hoboken, Belgium 3 men invade home, fail to force owner to hand over 3M Euros of BTC
February 2, 2022 Vinay Naik Pune, India Pune: 8 including cop arrested for kidnapping man to extort Bitcoin worth Rs 300 crore ( $50 million USD )
February 3, 2022 Vinay Jain Surat, India Auto parts businessman brings suitcase full of $260K worth of cash to do an in-person crypto trade, gets beaten and robbed by 8 men.
February 3, 2022 Ilya Basin Brooklyn, New York Crypto consultant hog-tied, beaten during home invasion.
March, 2022 bitcoin trader Dubai, UAE 4 men invade home, tie up man, steal $450K from safe.
March 2, 2022 Unidentified man Miami, FL Businessman ambushed by armed robber, has $1M watch & crypto wallet taken.
March 4, 2022 Electronics Dealer Pune, India Woman cop suspended for bid to extort crypto from trader
March 16, 2022 Pierrick Jamaux New York, New York Crypto expert shot 5 times by robber seeking Richard Mille watch.
April, 2022 Unidentified trader Dubai, UAE 9 robbers invaded the office of a bitcoin trader and took over $1,000,000 in cash.
April 21, 2022 Unidentified couple Norrköping, Sweden Couple tied up and beaten, forced to transfer cryptocurrency.
May, 2022 4 victims London, UK Multiple incidents of crypto muggings around London.
May, 2022 Unidentified man Dubai, UAE Crypto expert assaulted & robbed by investors for losing money.
May 20, 2022 Factory Owner Klang, Malaysia 12 men rob aluminum factory, steal 180 Bitcoin ASICs.
June, 2022 Undisclosed Osaka, Japan Son of Mitsubishi Electric CEO + 7 men kidnap, torture gym member for crypto assets.
July, 2022 Asian Investor Dubai, UAE Man suffers home invasion, loses ~$50,000 after attempting a face-to-face cash trade to buy bitcoin.
July, 2022 Vkusvill Supermarket Kuchino, Russia 4 armed mask men rob warehouse, steal 100 GPUs.
August 6, 2022 30 y/o broker Manerba, Italy 3 men follow a man home, hold him at knifepoint for BTC.
August 7, 2022 Arjun Bhargav Vrindavan Yojana, India 3 men trick, abduct, torture realtor for 8 BTC.
September 6, 2022 19 y/o hacker Lincolnshire, U.K. 3 men, 1 posing as a cop, arrested while attempting home invasion.
September 12, 2022 19 y/o man Winnipeg, Canada Man held at gunpoint, assaulted and tied up during Bitcoin trade.
September 15, 2022 Russian Couple Koh Samui, Thailand Russian couple extorted by gang of foreign men at coffee shop.
December, 2022 Aiden Pleterski Toronto, Ontario "Crypto king" abducted, tortured, and beaten for days as his kidnappers sought millions in ransom
December 1, 2022 Russian Businessman Moscow, Russia Man kidnapped from his Bentley by 4 men, forced to give access to bitcoin wallet.
December 11, 2022 2 Russians Phuket, Thailand 2 men who work on a cryptocurrency were kidnapped and robbed.
January 14, 2023 Crypto Company Barcelona, Spain 5 men stormed into a company's office armed with tasers and zip ties.
February 25, 2023 Yuri Boytsov Bali, Indonesia 4 men invade crypto blogger's home, beat him until he transfers $284,000 in BTC.
February 27, 2023 German man Medellin, Colombia 20 year old Venezuelan woman drugs and robs man of 1 BTC.
March 9, 2023 Peter Vuong Sydney, Australia Gang kidnaps boyfriend of crypto trader's relative, demands $5M ransom while torturing him for 6 days.
March 20, 2023 Virendra Malik Noida, India Couple stages robbery to steal bitcoin from their friend, but he doesn't comply.
March 29, 2023 48 y/o woman Seoul, South Korea 4 men kidnap woman, steal crypto, murder her.
April, 2023 Unidentified Woman Dubai, UAE Driver & 3 friends lured an investor into a fake deal, robbed, electrocuted, stripped naked, and took blackmail videos.
April 12, 2023 76 y/o couple Durham, NC 2 men posing as construction workers invade home, force transfer of $250K in crypto.
May 3, 2023 Unidentified man Benalmádena, Spain 3 men kidnap crypto businessman, demand €1 million ransom. He was rescued by police.
May 26, 2023 Smoke Shop Houston, TX 7 men arrested after ramming store with stolen truck in failed attempt to steal Bitcoin ATM.
June 2023 Crypto Entrepreneur Tel Aviv, Israel Crypto entrepreneur robbed at gunpoint in his home in Tel Aviv (Hebrew)
July 16, 2023 Unknown Couple Queens, NY Fake FBI agents in Porsche tase and tie up couple, steal Mercedes, $40K in cash, crypto
September 3, 2023 Italian man Phuket, Thailand Russian MMA fighter & twin brother rob man of watches, seek Ledger wallet.

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