One victim was forced to transfer $6.5 million in cryptocurrency to a wallet controlled by the group. That figure represents the bulk of what prosecutors say was stolen during the entire campaign.
Craig Missakian, the US Attorney for the Northern District of California, did not mince words. “These individuals, as alleged, terrorized their victims in the hopes of stealing vast sums of cryptocurrency,” he said in a statement Monday. “The scheme was not only sophisticated, it was brazen, violent, and dangerous.”
Physical Attacks On Crypto Owners Are RisingThe three men were arrested in December. Armstrong and Rucker are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. Chindavanh is set to appear June 26. All three face charges of conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, attempted robbery, and attempted kidnapping.
The public nature of crypto wealth — visible on-chain to anyone who knows where to look — combined with the perceived anonymity of transactions has made holders attractive targets for criminals willing to use force.
The California cases are not isolated. French authorities charged 88 people in April in connection with similar attacks on cryptocurrency owners in that country.
Seed Phrases And The Limits Of Digital SecurityPhysical attacks of this kind expose a gap that no encryption can fix. A seed phrase, once spoken under duress, hands over complete control of a wallet with no way to reverse a transfer after the fact. The indictment, filed in federal court in San Francisco, was unsealed Monday.
Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
