Violent crypto attacks surge 33% with $124M in losses, France hit hardest

Chainalysis, in its broader 2026 Crypto Crime Report, flagged a growing connection between physical violence and on-chain activity. The firm noted that attackers frequently time their assaults to coincide with surges in cryptocurrency prices.

Looking at the full-year 2025 data provides additional context. CertiK identified 72 wrench attack incidents across the entire year, with financial losses totaling $40.9 million. The first half of 2026 alone has already tripled that figure in dollar terms, with 52 incidents producing $124.1 million in exposure.

If H1 2025 saw 39 incidents worth $10.5 million, the average per-incident loss was roughly $269,000. In H1 2026, that average jumped to approximately $2.4 million per incident.

Chainalysis’s report stops short of attributing specific dollar losses from violent attacks in early 2026, though the over $30 million figure referenced in its analysis captures a portion of the broader trend. CertiK’s more granular data paints a significantly larger picture when accounting for total financial exposure across all documented incidents.