In short
- A crypto trader from Herzliya was reportedly stabbed twice and robbed of nearly $600,000 worth of crypto after three attackers ambushed him in his apartment building on September 7.
- The attack lasted more than an hour, during which the kidnappers allegedly threatened his family and cleaned the crime scene with disinfectant before fleeing with Bitcoin, USDT and a $50,000 Rolex.
- A security expert reported 52 such ‘key attacks’ worldwide in 2025, an average of one per week.
A crypto trader in Herzliya was reportedly tied up, beaten and stabbed in his own home during a brazen heist that netted thieves around $600,000 worth of crypto, the latest victim in what security analysts are calling a global wave of “wrench attacks” targeting crypto holders.
According to a local media report, the Tel Aviv Public Prosecution charged Murad Mahajna of Tel Aviv this week with orchestrating the home invasion along with two accomplices.
According to prosecutors, the repeat offender with ten previous convictions discovered that the victim was the owner Bitcoin and planned the attack on the father of two, who lives with his wife and daughters.
The ordeal took place on September 7, when three suspects allegedly ambushed the victim in the stairwell of his building, during which two masked assailants forced him inside, tied his hands with cables and brutally beat him.
“We came to take money, we are from the Karaja family,” Mahajna, who was not wearing a mask, allegedly told the victim as she initially demanded 500 BTC worth about $61 million.
Prosecutors allege that when the victim refused to hand over his wallet credentials, an attacker grabbed a kitchen knife and held it to his neck as Mahajna warned, “Let me get you out of this incident alive,” before stabbing him twice, once in each leg above the knee.
The victim eventually gave access to his accounts, allowing the attackers to transfer $547,260 in Bitcoin and $42,248 in USDT to their wallets over the next hour. They also seized a Rolex worth $50,000, a laptop, a Trezor hardware wallet, €5,000 and several thousand shekels in cash, prosecutors said.
Fearing for the safety of his family, the victim remained silent for several days before confiding in his relatives, who urged him to go to the police; investigators arrested Mahajna on September 10 using recorded calls, voice analysis and security camera evidence.
Bitcoin “key attacks”
So-called ‘key attacks’ in which crypto holders are physically attacked are increasing.
Security researcher Jameson Lopp, who maintains a database tracking these incidents, tweeted that he had predicted at the start of the year that 2025 would be “an all-time high for wrench attacks and we would average one per week,” adding that the incident in Israel is the 52nd attack this year.
According to Lopp’s database, there were four wrench attacks worldwide in September alone.
“My advice is to make physical data unreadable and hide carry, and unfortunately you can’t do the latter in most of the world,” says Mehow Pospieszalski, CEO of Decentralized wallet platform AmericanFortress, told Declutter.
He said weak cooperation between the crypto community and authorities has worsened the situation, with “law enforcement not exactly proactive in protecting founders” and a “vibe of distrust” from the crypto side hindering the coordination needed to catch such criminals.
Last month, French authorities deployed 150 gendarmes to rescue a 20-year-old Swiss man found tied up in a house near Valence high-speed train station in such a wrench attack.
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