Mexican Musician and Family Killed Over Bitcoin Cold Wallet, Prosecutors Say
Key Takeaways
- •Prosecutors allege the suspects were seeking a cold wallet containing “million-dollar amounts in Bitcoin.”
- •Four people, including Meléndez and three members of his household or staff, were found dead, while his six-year-old son survived.
- •Authorities arrested Diego Sebastián and Gerardo on September 2, and prosecutors allege Sebastián used his business relationship with Meléndez to gain access.
- •Chainalysis recorded 46 violent cryptocurrency attacks through late June, with more than $30 million stolen during the first half of 2026.
- •Home invasions represented 37% of the documented crypto attacks, according to Chainalysis data cited by Decrypt.
Mexican prosecutors allege that two men targeted the home of Jonathan Meléndez, keyboardist for the band Camilo Séptimo, while searching for a cold wallet they believed contained millions of dollars in Bitcoin.
Meléndez, his pregnant wife Ana Paula Barragán, their three-year-old daughter Sofía, and 21-year-old domestic worker Aleyda Romero were found dead at the family’s home in Atizapán de Zaragoza, State of Mexico, on September 1, according to IBTimes UK. The couple’s six-year-old son survived.
State prosecutors said the suspects allegedly entered the home looking for a cold wallet they believed held “million-dollar amounts in Bitcoin.” Authorities identified them as Diego Sebastián and Gerardo, using “N” instead of their surnames in accordance with Mexican privacy rules for criminal proceedings.
Diego Sebastián, a business associate of Meléndez, allegedly used that relationship to gain access to the home. Prosecutors allege that he offered Gerardo 2 million pesos, or about $118,000, to help obtain the cryptocurrency. Both men were arrested on September 2.
Cold wallets do not store Bitcoin itself. They are typically hardware devices, including Ledger, Trezor, and the air-gapped Coldcard, that store the private keys used to control access to cryptocurrency funds. Although cold wallets can protect against many online attacks, they do not eliminate physical risks, as criminals may target wallet holders directly in an attempt to gain access to their assets.
The killings come amid an increase in physical attacks targeting cryptocurrency holders. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis documented 46 violent crypto attacks through late June, with more than $30 million stolen during the first half of 2026. Home invasions accounted for 37% of the documented incidents, according to Chainalysis coverage cited by Decrypt.
In June, two brothers in Texas pleaded guilty to holding a Minnesota family at gunpoint for more than eight hours and forcing the father to transfer more than $8 million in cryptocurrency.
Source: Decrypt
