In short
- Three Tennessee males had been indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy to commit theft and kidnapping fees.
- The fees stem from an alleged cryptocurrency theft operation the place conspirators pressured victims at gunpoint to switch thousands and thousands in digital belongings.
- One incident noticed $6.5 million in cryptocurrency stolen at gunpoint, prosecutors mentioned.
Three Tennessee males have been federally indicted on theft, kidnapping, and conspiracy fees associated to an alleged multi-million greenback cryptocurrency theft operation focusing on victims throughout California.
In accordance with a press launch from the U.S. Department of JusticeElijah Armstrong, Nino Chindavanh, and Jayden Rucker traveled from Tennessee to California and posed as supply individuals to achieve entry to victims’ residences in San Francisco, San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Los Angeles.
Prosecutors mentioned the boys used firearms, duct tape, and zip ties to assault their victims, binding and restraining them to pressure disclosure of cryptocurrency account info.
In a single November incident, a San Francisco sufferer anticipating a package deal was approached by a robber carrying a white field at his Mission Dolores neighborhood dwelling. The sufferer was allegedly sure with duct tape, pistol-whipped and threatened earlier than being pressured to switch $10 million in Bitcoin and $3 million in Ethereum. One other incident cited by prosecutors noticed a sufferer robbed of $6.5 million in cryptocurrency at gunpoint.
Armstrong and Rucker had been arrested in Los Angeles on December 31, 2025, whereas Chindavanh was arrested in Sunnyvale on December 22, 2025. The fees carry most sentences starting from 20 years for theft and tried kidnapping counts to life imprisonment for conspiracy to commit kidnapping, together with fines of $250,000 for every depend of Conspiracy to Commit Hobbs Act Theft and Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping.
The alleged scheme drew sturdy condemnation from federal prosecutors and legislation enforcement officers, who characterised it as each refined and harmful.
“These people, as alleged, terrorized their victims within the hopes of stealing huge sums of cryptocurrency,” mentioned United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian. “The scheme was not solely refined, it was brazen, violent, and harmful.”
FBI Performing Particular Agent in Cost Matt Cobo known as the alleged conspiracy a “calculated scheme,” including that the indictments underscored the FBI’s “unwavering dedication to defending our communities from violent and arranged prison exercise.”
Crypto “wrench assaults”
The Tennessee case displays a broader surge in bodily assaults focusing on cryptocurrency holders, generally often called “wrench attacks” within the trade.
In accordance with information from cybersecurity agency CertiK, 72 verified incidents occurred globally in 2025, representing a 75% enhance from the earlier yr. These assaults contain criminals utilizing bodily pressure or threats to compel victims to switch digital belongings, exploiting the irreversible nature of blockchain transactions. The assaults have grow to be more and more refined, with perpetrators usually conducting extensive surveillance of high-net-worth crypto buyers earlier than putting.
Regulation enforcement organizations around the globe are cracking down on “wrench assaults,” with 88 charged in France over a string of crypto kidnappings, following incidents together with the kidnapping and mutilation of Ledger co-founder David Ballanda house invasion try focusing on Binance France’s CEOand the abduction of a magistrate and her mother for a crypto ransom.
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