£10,000 Reward Offered After UK Crypto 'Wrench Attack' Beating

Masked intruders beat a Solihull businessman with hammers for 45 minutes and threatened to kill his pregnant wife's unborn child until he transferred hundreds of thousands of pounds in cryptocurrency to them, according to a report by the BBC. Crimestoppers is now offering a £10,000 reward for information leading to the attackers' capture, the BBC reported.

The assault, which took place in December last year, was captured on the couple's home security footage and is now the subject of a police investigation, per the BBC. The man and his wife, who want to remain anonymous and are identified only as James and his wife, spoke to the broadcaster about the incident for the first time this week.

How much cryptocurrency did the attackers steal?

James transferred his crypto savings — described by the BBC as "hundreds of thousands of pounds" in value — to a digital wallet controlled by a man coordinating the robbery over a live video call. The attackers also stole several luxury Rolex watches before fleeing in a car driven by a getaway driver, according to the BBC. No exact sterling figure for the crypto transfer was disclosed in the report.

What happened inside the home?

Three masked men forced their way into the Solihull property and launched an attack that lasted 45 minutes, James told the BBC. "The door gets pushed open, I can see gloves coming in, balaclavas," he said. He tried to fight the intruders off but was struck in the face, head and ribs with hammers, suffering what the BBC described as multiple major injuries.

His wife, seven months pregnant at the time, was held down on the sofa by one of the men. "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'." She told the BBC the ordeal was "horrific" and that she believed James had been killed when he lay unresponsive on the floor. The baby, due at the time, was born at full term, the BBC reported.

How did the attackers access the wallet?

According to James's account to the BBC, the three men in the house had limited knowledge of how to access cryptocurrency themselves. Instead, they took instructions from a fourth person connected via FaceTime. "I can hear the guy on FaceTime saying: 'Show me everything on his phone. Show me what apps he's got,'" James said. When the caller identified a wallet holding substantial funds, the threats escalated. "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 told the BBC.

What is a 'wrench attack' and why is it rising?

Security researchers cited by the BBC classify the Solihull case as a "wrench attack" — industry shorthand for a violent, in-person robbery used to coerce a cryptocurrency holder into handing over wallet access, as opposed to a remote hack. The BBC reported that such attacks have been documented in the UK, France and the United States as crypto coin values have risen, making individual holders attractive targets for criminals who cannot easily breach exchange security but can threaten a known owner directly. Once crypto funds are transferred to a new wallet, the BBC noted, recovering them is extremely difficult because blockchain transactions are generally irreversible and can be moved across borders within minutes.

What happens now with the investigation?

Police are investigating the attack, and Crimestoppers' £10,000 reward is intended to generate tips on the identities of the three men who entered the home and the fourth attacker who directed the robbery by video call, according to the BBC. The couple has chosen to stay anonymous as the case proceeds. The BBC's report did not specify whether any suspects have been identified or arrested, and HTT News could not independently confirm additional case details beyond what the BBC published.

The case adds to a run of crypto-linked home invasions reported in Western Europe and North America this year, underscoring a point security specialists have made repeatedly: as digital-asset prices climb, so does the incentive for criminals to target holders physically rather than attempt a technical breach of an exchange or wallet provider.