Canadian Family Sexually Assaulted in $1.6M Bitcoin Wrench Attack — Attacker Handed 7 Years
A courtroom in British Columbia has detailed the harrowing occasions of a violent house invasion in 2024 that noticed a Canadian household overwhelmed, waterboarded, sexually assaulted, and robbed of $1.6 million in cryptocurrency.
The sentencing resolution, launched this month, outlines considered one of Canada’s most extreme “wrench assault” instances.
Attackers Posed as Canada Post Workers Before Torturing Family for $1.6M in Crypto
According to the courtroom doc, the assault occurred on April 27–28, 2024, when 4 males compelled their approach right into a household house after two of them disguised themselves as Canada Post staff delivering a bundle.
Once the daddy opened the door, the boys pushed inside, shut the door behind them, and have been joined moments later by two extra accomplices.
The husband, spouse, and daughter have been restrained with zip ties and subjected to hours of escalating violence because the attackers demanded entry to the daddy’s digital property.
Prosecutors mentioned the person had beforehand spoken in the Chinese neighborhood about his cryptocurrency holdings, main the group to imagine he managed substantial Bitcoin wealth.
The intruders initially demanded 200 BTC, then diminished the demand to 100 BTC when he was unable to conform. The assailants in the end transferred about $1.6 million in crypto earlier than fleeing the property.
Both dad and mom have been waterboarded and threatened with mutilation, whereas the daughter was compelled to undress, filmed, and compelled to repeat specific phrases.
One of the attackers sexually assaulted her because the group continued pressuring the household for entry to their property.
After the attackers tied the victims and wrapped them in blankets, a door shut, giving the daughter a possibility to partially free herself.
She escaped the house and known as 911, prompting the police investigation.
In May, one of many suspects, Tsz Wing Boaz Chan, pleaded responsible to breaking and getting into, illegal confinement, and sexual assault.
He was sentenced earlier this month to seven years in jail. Authorities haven’t disclosed updates on the remaining suspects.
Global Wave of Violent Crypto Robberies Surges; France Leads With 14 Cases
The case comes at a time when bodily assaults on crypto holders are rising sharply worldwide.
According to a CryptoInformation report in September citing knowledge compiled by Bitcoin safety advocate Jameson Lopp, incidents in which criminals use bodily pressure to acquire pockets credentials have surged 169% since February.
Physical assaults focusing on Bitcoin and crypto holders are rising at an alarming price, based on CASA co-founder Jameson Lopp. #Crypto #Attackhttps://t.co/d7lhF9bvvO
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) September 21, 2025
Lopp’s database now documents over 60 wrench-style assaults this 12 months, surpassing 2024 by 33%. with France main at 14 instances.
In the United States, a San Francisco resident was robbed of $11 million in cryptocurrency last weekend in a house invasion by a thief posing as a supply driver, and no arrests have been introduced.
Elsewhere, a collection of high-profile kidnappings and violent extortion makes an attempt have unfolded throughout Europe and Asia. In January, Ledger co-founder David Balland and his wife were abducted in France in a 48-hour ordeal that left Balland with a severed finger.
French prosecutors say prison networks are more and more utilizing pretend supply uniforms, stolen service vans, and pre-attack intelligence to focus on crypto holders and their households.
Attacks have additionally been reported in Thailand, Israel, Belgium, the U.Okay., and throughout the United States. In Chicago, six men were charged this year in a kidnapping scheme involving $15 million in stolen cryptocurrency.
In September, two Texas brothers were hit with federal kidnapping charges for allegedly holding a Minnesota household at gunpoint for 9 hours whereas draining $8 million in cryptocurrency.
Analysts say the rise in bodily crime parallels the sector’s financial development. With Bitcoin and different property rising in worth, attackers are shifting from digital theft to bodily coercion.
A report from safety agency CertiK discovered that crypto users lost $2.47 billion to hacks and scams in the first half of 2025, pushing some prison networks towards violent offline strategies as an alternative.
The submit Canadian Family Sexually Assaulted in $1.6M Bitcoin Wrench Attack — Attacker Handed 7 Years appeared first on Cryptonews.
