Jameson Lopp's public archive of physical attacks on cryptocurrency holders has more than doubled to approximately 702 documented cases, after AI-assisted detective work uncovered hundreds of incidents that had previously gone unrecorded.

The expanded records expose a disturbing history of kidnappings, home invasions, and violent robberies, including 31 reported deaths since 2020. The sharp rise reflects better documentation rather than a sudden doubling of attacks — evidence that criminals do not need to crack Bitcoin's cryptography when they can simply threaten the people holding the keys.

AI Search Uncovers Hundreds of Forgotten Bitcoin Attacks

Jameson Lopp, a Bitcoin security expert and co-founder at Casa, revealed the dramatic expansion of his physical attack archive on Oct. 16, 2026, crediting researcher Pizza Bitcoiner with uncovering hundreds of incidents previously missing from the records.

Lopp broke the news on X in an announcement that mixed appreciation with a rather grim discovery, stating:

“Good news: the Bitcoin Wrench Attack archive just got a lot more accurate. Bad news: we just doubled the total number of known attacks to over 700. Kudos to Pizza Bitcoiner for finding hundreds of new attack reports via agentic searches.”

The interactive archive now documents roughly 702 incidents dating back to 2014, spanning home invasions, kidnappings, violent robberies, and extortion schemes. Such crimes are known as wrench attacks, a term borrowed from an XKCD comic illustrating how physical intimidation can defeat even sophisticated digital security: rather than hacking a wallet, criminals threaten its owner until the cryptocurrency changes hands.

Pizza Bitcoiner's AI Search Breaks Open the Records

The breakthrough came from Pizza Bitcoiner, whose separate database documents 670 verified incidents across 72 countries between January 2020 and mid-October 2026. Of those cases, 375 were missing from Lopp's earlier collection, and approximately 351 have since been added to his repository.

The investigation relied on AI-assisted searches across local-language news outlets, court records, and police reports, surfacing incidents that traditional research methods had overlooked.

Pizza Bitcoiner responded to Lopp's acknowledgment with gratitude and a pledge to keep the investigation running. The researcher wrote:

“You are the one I should be thanking for starting it in the first place. I'm very happy to help! My pipeline will be running every week, adding new cases and also updating old ones with new evidence. The data will continue to remain available for download.”

Both datasets remain publicly accessible, and with the weekly pipeline adding and revising cases, the documented totals will continue to grow as previously unrecorded incidents come to light.

Hundreds Held Captive, Millions Stolen, and 31 Killed

The expanded dataset paints a stark picture of cryptocurrency's physical security problem. Among the 670 documented incidents, 413 involved victims being held against their will, 300 resulted in injuries, and 31 ended in deaths. Reported financial losses totaled approximately $394 million across the 447 cases for which figures are available.

Annual counts climbed from 37 incidents in 2020 to 165 in 2025, with another 134 documented through mid-October 2026. France has emerged as a prominent hotspot, while the United States also accounts for numerous reported attacks.

The figures nevertheless come with an important qualification: improved searches and broader language coverage explain part of the increase, meaning the newly discovered cases do not necessarily indicate a comparable rise in actual crime.

Bitcoin's Digital Defenses Meet a Physical Reality

The findings expose a vulnerability that encryption alone cannot eliminate. Multisignature wallets, geographically separated keys, and spending delays can complicate forced transfers, but they cannot guarantee protection against physical violence. Public disclosures of cryptocurrency holdings, compromised personal information, and face-to-face transactions can likewise expose potential victims to targeting.

Neither archive claims to capture every incident: many attacks go unreported, while others never reach searchable public records. As the expanded data makes clear, the real shock is not that hundreds of new attacks suddenly occurred — it is that hundreds had already happened, and much of the world never knew.