Warning: This story contains distressing details
A businessman was beaten with hammers by masked men who broke into his home and threatened to kill his heavily pregnant wife unless he transferred hundreds of thousands of pounds of cryptocurrency.
Speaking to the BBC, the couple, who want to remain anonymous, described the attack as “horrific” and said they feared for their unborn baby’s life.
The attackers left in a car driven by a getaway driver after the man transferred his crypto savings.
Experts say it is one of a growing type of violent theft known as a “wrench attack” targeting cryptocurrency investors.
As crypto coins have risen in value, reports of these violent robberies linked to digital assets have emerged in the UK, France and the US.
Once funds are transferred, recovering them can be extremely difficult.
The man, who the BBC is calling James, said three intruders forced their way into their Solihull home before launching an assault which lasted 45 minutes.
“The door gets pushed open, I can see gloves coming in, balaclavas,” he said.
James tried to fight the men off but they hit him in the face, head and ribs with hammers.
His wife, who was seven months pregnant, was held down on the sofa by one of the criminals.
“He’s got a pillow over her face,” James said. “He’s literally suffocating her on the sofa. I can hear her screaming, ‘I can’t breathe’.”
The couple still had no idea what the criminals wanted until one of the men demanded James unlock his phone and hand it over.
James said the attackers appeared to know he owned cryptocurrency, but had little understanding of how to access it.
Instead, they were taking instructions from someone else connected via a live video call.
“I can hear the guy on FaceTime saying: ‘Show me everything on his phone. Show me what apps he’s got’,” he said.
When the caller identified a crypto wallet containing substantial funds, the threats escalated dramatically.
“He was basically saying: ‘Look, if you don’t send us this money now, we’re going to stab your wife in the stomach and kill your baby. We’re going to kill your wife’,” James said.
His wife, who also did not want to be named, described the attack that happened in December last year as “horrific” and said she feared James had been killed when he was unresponsive on the floor.
“It was terrifying,” she said.
The woman, in her early thirties, was expecting her third child at the time and said she feared she might lose the baby due to the stress of the attack. The baby survived and was born at full term.
The men left after James transferred his savings – hundreds of thousands of pounds of cryptocurrency – to the digital wallet of the man on the video call.
They also stole several luxury Rolex watches.
James said before they left, he heard the man on the video call tell his accomplices: “You can have 10 grand each but I am taking the rest.”
Rise of the ‘wrench attack’
Unlike money held in a conventional bank account, cryptocurrency is often controlled directly by the owner through digital wallets or physical storage devices.
For criminals, that combination of speed, anonymity and irreversibility can make crypto holders attractive targets.
Whilst the vast majority of cryptocurrency theft happens online through hacks and scams, crypto investigators at Chainalysis say “wrench attacks” have surged in recent years.
According to their research, $30m (£22.6m) had been stolen so far this year up to June in violent robberies, making 2026 likely to become the single-worst year for violent crypto attacks on record. Home invasions are also on the rise this year, it found.
The US, Brazil, and Thailand are hotspots but France has seen the largest number of attacks by far, as a result of a data breach at a tax office that has apparently allowed wealthy crypto holders to be located.
“The physical security assumptions that protect traditional wealth, such as bank vaults and armored cars, do not automatically apply in crypto. Often, holders keep their assets in comparatively low security setups, like self-custody wallets, that can be compromised without any institutional gatekeeper standing in the way,” said researchers in their report.
James said he became an amateur investor in crypto coins in 2020 and made enough money to quit his job in 2023 to trade full time.
Now he has lost everything and is looking to get back to his traditional job.
Police have yet to identify the attackers.
Crimestoppers is offering a £10,000 reward for information leading to progress in the investigation.
Alan Edwards from the charity hopes people might have information about the three attackers, the driver who was parked outside without a face covering, or the man on the phone.
“These criminals are obviously serious and part of some kind of organised crime gang,” he said.
“People might be scared to give us information but we are independent of the police and keep people completely anonymous.”
The three attackers are all thought to be in their late teens or early 20s and one of them was a black male with a scar under his left eyebrow.
James said he has little hope of recovering the stolen funds, but instead wanted to see those responsible brought to justice.
He also wants his experience to serve as a warning.
“They threatened my wife and my baby,” he said. “People need to understand these risks are real.”
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