$5 Wrench Attack: What Is It & How Can You Protect Yourself?
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A $5 wrench attack is one of the most primitive and brutal attacks against someone holding bitcoin.
Instead of hacking you or trying to gain access to your wallet remotely, an attacker locates you and uses a weapon like a ‘$5 wrench’ (hence the name) to force you to hand over your coins to them.
You can have the best Bitcoin wallet setup and use the most sophisticated backup solutions, but if someone uses blunt force and physically intimidates you this way, they will likely be able to steal your bitcoin holdings.
Read on to learn how you can protect yourself against the so-called ‘$5 wrench attack.
What Is a 5-Dollar Wrench Attack?
A $5 wrench attack is the use of physical force or threat of bodily harm to coerce you into handing over your bitcoin.
The ‘5 dollar wrench’ here can be a weapon of any kind that the attacker can use.
For the attack to happen, there has to be physical contact between the victim and the perpetrator, which often occurs as a house raid, a kidnapping, or even a carjacking.
But who is a potential victim of such an attack, and who is most at risk?
The following are the people who are most likely to become victims of a $5 wrench attack:
- Highly visible individuals with substantial bitcoin holdings, such as speakers at conferences or those with large social media followings
- People who often talk about their bitcoin holdings online
- Public figures who are pro-bitcoin and voice their support
- Those holding management positions in large Bitcoin companies
- Family members or close friends of any of these individuals
How Do $5 Wrench Attacks Actually Happen? 3 Real-World Examples
Before we get into specifics of how you can protect yourself, let’s look at some real-world examples of victims of this form of attack so that you are aware that this is a very real threat.
Ledger Co-Founder, David Balland, January 2025
David Balland is the co-founder of Ledger, one of the largest hardware wallet manufacturers, and was selectively targeted by attackers. In an attempt to get hold of his wallets, attackers kidnapped Balland and his wife and held them for ransom. During the attack, Balland ended up sustaining a serious injury to his hand.
Local law enforcement in France was able to rescue them, and the company didn’t have to pay the ransom. The Balland family was most likely targeted because of David’s position in the industry, and attackers assumed he always had some satoshis on him.
Pavel Nyashin January 2018
Russian blogger Pavel Nyashin was attacked in his home near St. Petersburg in January 2018 after he had displayed the contents of his wallet online. Masked attackers broke into his home, beat him up, and stole over $425,000 worth of bitcoin.
Letting others see his bitcoin holdings and the success he had achieved most likely made him a target. Also, thanks to other pieces of information he had shared online, it was easy for the attackers to do surveillance on him and to find out his home address.
How to Protect Yourself from a $5 Wrench Attack
Now that you’ve seen how dangerous a wrench attack can be, there are several measures and steps you can take to reduce the risk of becoming a victim.
Set Up a Decoy Wallet
A decoy wallet is a great first step you can take in safeguarding your bitcoin holdings and ensuring that if a physical attack occurs, you won’t lose all your stash.
A decoy wallet is simply a wallet you create and whose seed phrase you keep in your memory. You can deposit some amount into it, but you are willing to lose.
But there are a few things you must consider when setting up such a wallet:
- If you have a hot wallet on your phone, ensure that it is only the decoy wallet.
- Don’t name the wallet ‘decoy’ or anything related, as this would tip off the attackers.
- If you choose to have some funds in there, be willing to lose that amount.
- Make the wallet realistic by using it to pay for goods or services.
- Never interact with this wallet and your main wallet. Always keep them separate.
If you were to fall victim to an attack, you can claim this wallet as your Bitcoin wallet and hand over the private keys. This way, you avoid getting harmed, especially since most $5 wrench attacks are more about intimidation than an actual intention to inflict bodily harm.
Often, simply handing over something to the attackers can get them off the scene immediately.
Improve Your Home Security
The next step in protecting yourself, your family, and your bitcoin is to review and improve your home security.
The most important step you can take right away in this regard is not to share your home address publicly. Consider using a P.O. box for packages and letters, and don’t register on a public address registry.
Next up, you should improve the security system of your home. Install motion sensors and security cameras that alert you if someone is breaking in or entering your premises. Connect all of that to a security hub where local law enforcement gets contacted if something were to happen.
While some of these actions may seem a little more than necessary, they all add to your security and that of your loved ones. Most physical attacks take place at victims' homes or close by. If you can monitor your own home and surroundings, you can minimize the risk.
Diversify Your Storage Options
This point is crucial not only for your Bitcoin wallets but also for your backup options.
It’s essential to have multiple cold storage options. Don’t store your entire wealth in a single wallet.
Meanwhile, whether you choose to stamp your seed phrase on multiple steel plates or use steel backup solutions, all that security is useless if you have all your backups in one place.
Therefore, ensure that you have separate locations for your backup and wallet setups. And also, just as with your home address, do not share it publicly. You might even consider a decoy backup address, in case a $5 wrench attacker wants the backup as well.
Minimize Your Digital Footprint
Reducing or completely minimizing your digital footprint is one of the most crucial steps you can take to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of a $5 wrench attack.
Often, we share far too much online: birthdays, dinner locations, the vet appointment for our pet, etc. All of that data can be scraped quite easily by attackers and used to plan an attack on you.
To minimize that, you can take these steps:
- Use throwaway emails for logging in or signing up.
- Review your public profiles and remove any revealing information.
- Never share your phone number online.
- Don’t post pictures or videos from your home.
- Never disclose personal information, such as your passport data, birthday, and birthplace.
- Make it difficult to contact you directly by not sharing instant messenger details.
- Never mention how much bitcoin you have.
If you follow these steps and become more mindful of what you share online, you’ll significantly reduce your digital footprint.
Additionally, you can contact a cybersecurity expert–we at The Bitcoin Way would be happy to help you out–and go through a thorough review of your online security. You can also get a service to make inquiries for you with data brokers to help you get rid of sensitive data about you that was shared in the past.
Maintain Operational Security (OPSEC)
Finally, make sure you have suitable Bitcoin OPSEC in place. Operational security (OPSEC) refers to a systematic approach to identifying, controlling, and protecting critical information that adversaries could exploit.
When applied to Bitcoin privacy and security, OPSEC focuses on protecting your identity, activities, and assets from various threats.
For a Bitcoin-specific use case, this means taking the following steps:
- Avoid linking your Bitcoin addresses with personal identifiable information.
- Generating new addresses for each transaction makes tracking more difficult.
- Use an air-gapped wallet and ensure it is never connected to any network.
- Considering privacy-enhancing tools like CoinJoin, PayJoin, or Lightning Network transactions, which can help break the chain of analysis.
- Protecting your wallet infrastructure, seed phrases, and private keys with physical security measures.
- Using VPNs and Tor when accessing Bitcoin-related services to mask your IP address.
- Running your own Bitcoin node and connecting it to your wallet to enhance your privacy.
- Separating your Bitcoin activities from your day-to-day digital life using dedicated devices or even operating systems.
If you follow all these steps, you're well on your way to drastically reducing your digital footprint, enhancing your Bitcoin security, and maintaining optimal OPSEC. And that ultimately reduces the chances of an attacker finding you.
Get Personalized Bitcoin Security Solutions With The Bitcoin Way
Protecting yourself against wrench attacks is crucial, especially if you are holding a significant amount of bitcoin. Not only are you minimizing potential harm against you physically, but you are also protecting your wealth and the well-being of your family.
FAQs
How can I protect myself from a $5 wrench attack?
The best way to protect yourself against a $5 wrench attack is to be as private as possible. That includes your presence online or at events where attackers might be looking for their next victim. Never mention your address or where you live, and make sure to protect your phone number. Additionally, you can enhance your home security with tools such as alarms, cameras, and motion sensors.
What are some effective home security measures to prevent $5 wrench attacks?
The best way to protect your home is to establish a security setup that enables you to follow what’s going on around your home. You should consider installing cameras, alarms, and sensors. Also, controlling the amount of information about your private life, including your home, that you share is essential. Don’t leak your private address, and use P.O. boxes or pickup addresses for packages or mail instead.
How do $5 wrench attacks compare to other types of bitcoin theft?
$5 wrench attacks differ from cyberattacks, such as SIM swaps, wallet hacks, and phone scams, because they occur in person. Rather than using software and trickery, an attacker uses blunt physical force to try to coerce you into giving them access to your wallet.
Can a $5 wrench attack be carried out remotely?
No, a $5 wrench attack can not be carried out remotely. Such an attack is always physical and must occur in person. It could happen that someone hires someone remotely to carry out the attack, but, essentially, the attack is always physical.