CertiK says crypto wrench attacks exposed $124.1 million in H1 2026

Violent attacks on cryptocurrency holders worsened in the first half of 2026, with CertiK documenting 52 publicly verified wrench attacks and more than $124 million in total financial exposure, up 33% from 39 incidents a year earlier. Chainalysis separately said successful attacks extracted more than $30 million in H1, while total exposure reached roughly $107 million when attempted thefts, blocked transfers, demanded ransoms and recovered assets were included. If the current pace continues, 2026 would surpass the $58 million stolen in all of 2025, though the final outcome will depend on activity in the second half. France remained the main hotspot, with Chainalysis recording 30 publicly known incidents through mid-2026 and French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez saying authorities had documented more than 70 crypto-related violent cases. Chainalysis linked the French surge to compromised personal data, including an alleged 2024 sale of dossiers by a tax official and a later Waltio breach affecting about 50,000 users. The report said home invasions accounted for 37% of reported incidents in 2026, kidnappings remained the most common overall, and attackers increasingly targeted relatives to force transfers. Through late June, only 12 of 46 documented violent theft attempts resulted in victims surrendering funds, a 26% success rate down from 49% in 2025 and 67% in 2024. On-chain patterns ranged from direct transfers to centralized exchanges to routing through decentralized exchanges, bridges and intermediary wallets, with one traced case intersecting services tied to cartel money-laundering networks, terrorist-financing clusters and wallets linked to alleged cocaine trafficker Ryan Wedding.