However more and more, that phrase is taking over a extra sinister connotation, with the variety of bodily assaults on cryptocurrency traders, a few of which contain violent residence invasions, practically doubling yr over yr in 2025, Bloomberg Information reported Friday (Jan. 2).
Whereas media protection of the assaults tends to deal with wealthier targets like crypto execs or TikTok influencers, the report mentioned an investigation into one prolific heist crew finds that victims now embody youngsters as effectively as blue collar employees like academics and firemen.
There have been 215 documented circumstances of bodily crypto assaults worldwide, the report added. Nevertheless, safety advisor Jameson Lopp instructed Bloomberg that this determine is probably going low, as many victims don’t report the crimes, fearing that they’ll open themselves as much as repeated thefts.
That’s what occurred to Julia Goodwin, a Florida lady on the heart of the Bloomberg report. She was the sufferer of a targeted hack in 2021 that value her 90% of their financial savings. Then, she and her husband have been subjected to a house invasion, held at gunpoint by a crew of thieves who needed entry to the rest of her crypto. (The theft was halted when her husband managed to hit the panic button on their residence’s safety system, the report added).
The findings from Bloomberg’s investigation observe a yr by which crypto thefts reached $3.4 billion. That’s in keeping with a report final month by blockchain information platform Chainalysis, which famous that just about half of that complete, $1.5 billion, stemmed from a single incident, the historic February compromise of the Bybit crypto exchange.
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In associated information, PYMNTS wrote final week about enforcement efforts by the U.S. Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC), which in 2025 introduced greater than 30 crypto-related enforcement actions, resulting in $2.6 billion in penalties and restitution, the very best complete ever for the business. The Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CTFC) generated greater than $17 billion in financial aid, with digital asset circumstances accounting for nearly half of its enforcement docket.
“From the standpoint of compliant cryptocurrency corporations, the yr’s value of enforcement actions and prison circumstances sign the SEC and CFTC’s rising emphasis on clear-cut fraud and criminality, quite than debates over whether or not digital belongings deserve safety or commodity designations,” PYMNTS wrote.
