🔫 Crypto Under Fire: An Industry of Freedom in a World That Now Needs Bodyguards
Cryptocurrencies began as a freedom project — freedom from banks, surveillance, and intermediaries. But in 2025, freedom needs protection. Literally. Crypto executives are increasingly becoming targets of kidnappings, blackmail, and extortion.
The shift to Web3? Yes — but only with intelligence-grade security.
Last year alone, Coinbase spent over $6.2 million on CEO Brian Armstrong’s personal security — more than the combined security budgets for the heads of JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Nvidia. Circle allocated $800,000 for Jeremy Allaire’s protection. Robinhood spent $1.6 million securing Vlad Tenev. This isn’t risk management anymore. It’s a survival budget.
The situation escalated after a recent attack on a Coinbase employee in France. The incident drew national attention — France’s Interior Minister pledged to create a dedicated emergency line for the crypto community. The community’s response was telling: users flooded social media with warnings to avoid traveling to France for safety reasons.
And it’s not paranoia. According to Casa’s Jameson Lopp, over 20 crypto-related abductions were reported globally in the first few months of 2025 alone. Most weren’t random muggings — they were planned operations, involving surveillance, data leaks, and physical threats to extract access to wallets.
In an industry where millions of dollars can be stored in someone’s head as a seed phrase, the notion of personal security takes on a new meaning.
It’s no longer about protecting keys.
It’s about protecting the people who hold them.
