A surge in violent attacks on crypto holders is driving insurers to develop kidnap and ransom policies tailored for digital asset investors.

The recent case of an Italian tourist who was kidnapped in New York City and tortured by people allegedly after his cryptocurrency is drawing attention to a rash of crimes dubbed "wrench attacks," which combine cybertheft with old-fashioned thuggery.

An alleged kidnapping in New York is the latest instance in which authorities say cryptocurrency-related crimes have involved real-world violence.

Details emerge on the NYC Bitcoin torture case, where John Woeltz allegedly tortured Michael Carturan to obtain his crypto password.

A crypto investor was arrested for kidnapping and torturing an Italian man for weeks to steal his Bitcoin password.

Officers with the ICAC Task Force were able to track down one website and discover illegal material. The Internet Watch Foundation also assisted in identifying Merritt’s digital wallet.

The US has reported the highest number of crypto kidnapping cases since 2019, despite a recent spike in France. Victims often include traders, executives, and their families, with attackers using physical threats to demand Bitcoin.

The rise in crypto-related crime incidents show that crime is changing everywhere, says Bloomberg Opinion's Lionel Laurent.

A second man has been indicted in New York after being charged with kidnapping a man for three weeks in Manhattan's upscale SoHo neighborhood, shocking him with electric wires, and dangling him over a staircase to try to get him to give up his bitcoin password,