Masked Robbers Beat Man With Hammers and Threatened to Kill His Unborn Baby in Crypto 'Wrench Attack'

A British businessman was subjected to a terrifying 45-minute ordeal in his own home when three masked intruders armed with hammers demanded he hand over hundreds of thousands of pounds in cryptocurrency, threatening to stab his pregnant wife in the stomach if he refused.

The couple, who have asked to remain anonymous, spoke to the BBC about the attack at their home in Solihull, describing it as "horrific" and saying they genuinely feared for the life of their unborn child. The case has highlighted a disturbing and rapidly growing category of violent crime targeting cryptocurrency investors, known in law enforcement and industry circles as a "wrench attack."

The man, referred to by the BBC as James, recounted how the assault began when his front door was forced open and he saw gloved hands and balaclavas pushing their way inside. He attempted to fight off the intruders, but they overpowered him and struck him repeatedly in the face, head and ribs with hammers. The sustained beating left him with major injuries requiring hospital treatment.

While James was being attacked, his wife — who was seven months pregnant at the time — was pinned to the sofa by one of the men, who pressed a pillow over her face. James described hearing her screaming that she could not breathe as the man smothered her. He said he feared she would be killed in front of him.

For a significant portion of the ordeal, the couple had no idea what the attackers wanted. That changed when one of the men ordered James to unlock his phone and hand it over. It soon became clear that the intruders knew he held cryptocurrency but had little technical understanding of how to access it themselves. Instead, they appeared to be taking live instructions from a fourth person connected via a FaceTime video call.

James said he could hear the man on the call directing the attackers, telling them to show him everything on the phone and to identify which apps had been installed. When the caller spotted a crypto wallet containing substantial funds, the threats escalated sharply. The man on the video call warned that unless the money was transferred immediately, the attackers would stab his wife in the stomach and kill both her and the baby.

Under extreme duress, James transferred his cryptocurrency savings — described as hundreds of thousands of pounds — to a digital wallet controlled by the man on the video call. The attackers also stole several luxury Rolex watches before leaving. James said that as they departed, he heard the man on the call tell his accomplices they could each keep £10,000, but that he would be taking the rest.

The couple described the lasting psychological toll of the attack, which took place in December last year. James's wife, who is in her early thirties and was expecting her third child, said she feared her husband had been killed when she saw him lying unresponsive on the floor. She also worried that the extreme stress might cause her to lose the baby. The child survived and was delivered at full term.

The attack was captured on home security footage and is being investigated by police. No arrests have been made, and detectives have yet to identify any of the suspects. The charity Crimestoppers has announced a £10,000 reward for information that leads to progress in the case. Alan Edwards of Crimestoppers said the offenders are clearly serious criminals connected to organised crime, and urged anyone with knowledge of the attack to come forward, stressing that the charity operates independently of the police and guarantees complete anonymity.

Investigators believe the three attackers were all in their late teens or early twenties. One is described as a Black male with a scar beneath his left eyebrow. Authorities are also seeking information about the getaway driver, who remained parked outside without a face covering, and the man who directed the robbery over the video call.

The case forms part of a wider pattern that security experts say has accelerated as the value of digital assets has risen. Unlike money held in a conventional bank account, cryptocurrency is typically controlled directly by its owner through digital wallets or physical storage devices. That combination of speed, anonymity and irreversibility makes crypto holders attractive targets for violent criminals, because transactions cannot be reversed once completed and there is no institution that can step in to freeze or recover the funds.

Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, which tracks crypto-related crime, reports that violent robberies of this kind have surged in recent years. Its research indicates that $30m (£22.6m) had already been stolen in violent crypto robberies by June of this year, putting 2026 on course to become the worst year on record for such attacks. Home invasions are also increasing, the firm found.

The United States, Brazil and Thailand have emerged as hotspots, but France has recorded by far the largest number of attacks. Researchers attribute this in part to a data breach at a tax office that appears to have allowed wealthy crypto holders to be identified and located. In their report, analysts noted that the physical security assumptions protecting traditional wealth — such as bank vaults and armoured vehicles — do not automatically apply in the crypto world, where holders often keep assets in comparatively low-security self-custody wallets that can be compromised without any institutional gatekeeper standing in the way.

James said he began investing in cryptocurrency as an amateur in 2020 and made enough money to leave his job in 2023 to trade full time. Now, he says, he has lost everything and is looking to return to traditional employment. While he holds little hope of recovering the stolen funds, he said his priority is seeing those responsible brought to justice.