"Three knives to my face": a UK trader says armed intruders forced him to hand over about $760,000 in crypto at home

A crypto trader in the UK says armed intruders broke into his home, held knives to his face and forced him to send them his coins. The trader, who posts on X as "realist", said they took about $40,000 from his main wallets and $720,000 from his Ledger hardware wallet, about $760,000 in all, CoinDesk and crypto.news reported on Tuesday, October 13. He first put the loss at about $800,000.

"Three knives to my face saying they were gonna kill me," he wrote in a follow-up post, according to crypto.news. He said the intruders also smashed his phone and took a Rolex, that he had bruising but no serious injuries, and that police were at the property. Police have not independently confirmed the theft or the circumstances, crypto.news reported, and the date of the attack has not been given.

The case is a reminder that a hardware wallet protects keys from hackers, not from someone standing in the room. Chainalysis counted more than $30 million taken in violent attacks on crypto holders in the first half of 2026, and found home invasions made up 37% of incidents, up from 14% a year earlier, CoinDesk reported. CertiK recorded 52 verified physical attacks in the same period, 33 of them in France and two in the UK, crypto.news reported.

Security advice in both reports focused on keeping holdings private and keeping spending money apart from long-term savings.