A disturbing trend is emerging in the world of cryptocurrency, where the largely unregulated digital currency’s surge in value has led to a spike in violent crimes targeting crypto holders. Recent cases in New York, Paris, and Connecticut have seen victims subjected to kidnapping, torture, and ransom demands, highlighting the dark side of the crypto industry.
In New York, a 28-year-old Italian man alleged that he was tortured for weeks by two American crypto investors, John Woeltz and William Duplessie, who have since been arrested on kidnapping and assault charges. The suspects purportedly sought to obtain the victim’s Bitcoin password through their brutal methods.
This case follows closely on the heels of a major indictment in Washington, D.C., where 13 individuals were charged with stealing over $260 million from victims’ cryptocurrency accounts through a combination of hacking, money laundering, and old-fashioned burglary. Some of the accused allegedly broke into victims’ homes to steal “hardware wallets” — devices that provide access to crypto accounts.
The Connecticut case, which involved a couple being carjacked, beaten, and thrown into a van, has been linked to a ransom plot targeting their son, who is accused of helping steal over $240 million worth of Bitcoin from a single victim. The son has not been charged but is being detained on a federal misdemeanor offense.
France has also seen its share of crypto-related kidnappings, with the father of a crypto entrepreneur being kidnapped and having his finger cut off in a ransom demand. The CEO of a French crypto firm, Pierre Noizat, had his daughter targeted in a kidnapping attempt, which was foiled by a shopkeeper armed with a fire extinguisher. Another French crypto firm co-founder, David Balland, and his wife were kidnapped from their home but were later rescued by police.
Experts point to the lack of regulation in the crypto space and the large sums of money involved as key factors driving this trend of violence. The FBI’s 2024 internet crime report revealed a record $16.6 billion in reported losses due to internet crime, with crypto theft victims accounting for over $6.5 billion of that total. The anonymity and difficulty in tracing crypto transactions are likely emboldening criminals, who see digital assets as a lucrative target.
“As long as there’s a viable route to launder or liquidate stolen assets, it makes little difference to the offender whether the target is a high-value watch or a crypto wallet,” said Phil Ariss, director of UK public sector relations at crypto tracing firm TRM Labs. “Cryptocurrency is now firmly in the mainstream, and as a result, our traditional understanding of physical threat and robbery needs to evolve accordingly.”
