Bitcoin Security Startup Glok to Address Rising Kidnapping Threats

16/07/2025 admin

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Security Startup Glok to Address Rising Kidnapping Threats

With Bitcoin’s price exceeding $100,000, cryptocurrency holders face growing security risks — primarily being kidnapped or held for ransom. Alena Vranova, co-founder of SatoshiLabs and Trezor, has launched Glok, a company offering training and technology to protect Bitcoiners from these physical threats.

Rising Kidnapping Risks

In the first six months of 2025, kidnappings targeting cryptocurrency holders surpassed the total for all of 2024, according to data Glok shared with Bitcoin Magazine. Criminals have shifted from digital ransomware to physical “wrench attacks,” coercing victims to surrender wallet credentials. A notable case involved a 28-year-old Italian tourist tortured for weeks in a Manhattan apartment in May 2025, allegedly by a crypto trader attempting to extort his bitcoin.

“The stakes are no longer just about reputation, data, and money; physical violence is becoming more prevalent,” Vranova states in Glok’s announcement. She notes that “any amount, even less than 0.5 BTC, can put you at risk,” referencing cases where individuals were targeted for as little as $50,000, equivalent to under 0.5 BTC today.

“Approximately 18 million crypto owner identities, including 2.2 million with home addresses, are circulating on the darknet, largely due to data leaks from exchanges like Gemini and Coinbase. With an estimated 700 million to 1 billion crypto owners globally, 70-80% having undergone KYC,” Vranova told Bitcoin Magazine.

When reported incidents of crypto-related kidnappings are sorted by country and adjusted by population, the most dangerous countries are Hong Kong and the UAE, with 0.120 and 0.091 per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively — again, according to data shared with Bitcoin Magazine, data that Vranova emphasized is most likely underreported.

Who’s at Risk?

Exchange users are particularly vulnerable due to data leaks at exchanges that have KYC’d their customers. Businessmen, journalists, podcasters and developers who discuss Bitcoin publicly also face risks, as do enthusiasts who have shared their interest with others. “Assumed crypto wealth may be larger than actual, but criminals will not care,” Vranova explains. Family members are often targeted as attack vectors, a risk many overlook.

Many Bitcoiners lack the protective habits of traditional wealthy families. “A Bitcoiner overestimates technology and underestimates the human factor,” Vranova added, noting that this mindset leaves them unprepared for physical security threats, often leading to panic in high-stress situations.

Glok’s Services and Roadmap

Glok, launched in 2025, provides training to enhance physical security, and is developing software and hardware products to round out the security offering.

Today, its main offering is the Counter-Kidnapping Training as well as a free checklist to review your risk factor for crypto-related kidnappings.

The app is in beta testing with sign-ups available.

Glok is also actively hiring software engineers and hopes the app will bootstrap an international community of “Guardian Angels” who can be summoned in an emergency to protect Bitcoin owners from the related threats.

“It is time to rewrite the $5 wrench attack meme,” she stated, urging preparedness.