In a startling case from New York’s upscale Manhattan neighborhood, a barefoot, hurting crypto-enthusiast found his way to the police with a distressing tale. He described enduring over two weeks of continuous torment at the hands of two acquaintances, all to gain access to his lucrative Bitcoin holdings. The victim, a 28-year-old Italian national, Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan, reported harrowing experiences, including being urinated on, forced substance abuse, physical assault, electric shocks, saw-cuts, and even being hung dangerously from heights.
Carturan’s tormentors, identified as John Woeltz and William Duplessie, were believed to be part of his circle, and both shared an interest in the cryptocurrency realm. As per the details revealed by the victim, Carturan and Woeltz were connected to an undisclosed crypto hedge fund in New York. An unhealthy dynamic had sprouted between the two, with Woeltz frequently belittling and provoking Carturan, leading to a heated argument over monetary matters that had previously sent Carturan back to Italy.
After receiving Carturan’s revelations, the authorities acted promptly, apprehending Woeltz and Duplessie. Carturan’s ordeal was a part of what is now known as a ‘wrench attack’, a rising form of crime in the crypto space. The term harks back to a 2009 webcomic strip by xkcd, pointing out how encryption could easily be bypassed not by sophisticated hacking, but crude threats or physical harm.
In a wrench attack, offenders victimize their targets using brutal physical force to unveil the pass-codes to their digital cryptocurrency wallets. Coinciding with Carturan’s liberation from his captors, a report was released by the crypto-crime watchdog group TRM Labs. Stating an alarming rise in wrench attacks, the report emphasized the disturbing increase in their frequency and escalating brutality, causing the victims to suffer extreme trauma.
Discussing the uptick in such criminal activity, Ari Redbord, a former federal prosecutor currently serving as head of global policy for TRM Labs, was candid in his explanation. He pointed out how the doubling of Bitcoin prices in the past year had attracted greed-driven criminals to this emerging field. These miscreants, according to Redbord, neither possessed hacking prowess nor required advanced technological tools.
Bitcoin’s increasing valuation and record highs in 2025 have prompted anticipation of an unprecedented number of wrench attacks worldwide. In response to the emerging threat, some cryptocurrency enthusiasts have begun engaging in hand-to-hand combat training. Such measures seem to correlate with the reality that many past victims of wrench attacks had little to no access to suitable home-security systems or self-defense tools.
Instances such as these, while infrequent, cause deep psychological damage to the victims. Reflecting on a similar incident, another case emerged where a 30-year-old American tourist in London was sedated by a man posing as an Uber driver and was later freed only when he disclosed his cryptographic wallet’s passkey. Violent crypto-crimes are not being localized to any one area, but are steadily becoming a worldwide phenomenon.
An example predominant in the United States was that of a Las Vegas-based trader who, shortly after attending a local crypto conference, was held captive by three armed and masked robbers right on his doorstep. They extorted him for cryptocurrency tokens amounting to $4.8 million before stranding him in a remote desert location, a staggering 26 miles away from the Nevada border.
It’s not just individual investors that are at risk. The CEOs of crypto companies have also been targeted. In one high-profile case, Dean Skurka, the chief executive of WonderFI, was abducted in Toronto. He was held for a demand of $1 million, only to be released upon payment of the ransom.
The involvement of wealth, publicity and having inadequate cyber-security measures make crypto stakeholders susceptible to such attacks. This risk is significantly escalated during large gatherings like conferences featuring attendees with significant cryptocurrency holdings. When individuals act as their own banks due to their digital wealth, they inevitably expose themselves to the risks similar to a bank being robbed.
The situation is more precarious when such gatherings draw multiple crypto-affluent individuals to the same location. An incident at the Brussels Ethereum conference the previous summer drew attention after several attendees were robbed. The difference in victim selection between traditional and crypto-based wealth was brought to light by a commentator named ‘Piancey’.
Piancey stated that these incidents seldom occurred at conventional large-scale bankers’ meetings. In comparison, a person holding $100 million in crypto was an irresistibly easy prey for cybercriminals due to the ease of acquiring and retaining the bounty, as opposed to someone with the same worth in the banking system.
The Bitcoin 2025 event also saw attention directed towards the proclivity of crypto enthusiasts to flaunt their wealth. Jameson Lopp was explicit in his advice to all present: repress your urges to brag about your financial achievements. Lopp’s words underscored the need for stealth when dealing with crypto fortunes to avoid attracting unwanted individuals who might see such displays as an invitation to steal.
With the unsettling rise in wrench attacks, a shift in mindset seems paramount among crypto-enthusiasts to ensure better safety. The need for better personal and data security practices is underscored by these atrocious incidents. We can only hope that as crypto continues to flourish, better methods to safeguard against such brutal crimes in this new financial frontier will also evolve.
This series of unfortunate events serves as a stark reminder of the threats lurking in the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrencies. As the crypto craze continues to grip the world, attracting a diverse array of investors, it is becoming ever more important to adopt better security measures to protect both self and wealth from potential physical and cyber harm.