People in the cryptocurrency market are a different breed of people. We are built differently. Most of us would admit that we have an obsession with this market and its ability to change our lives financially.
The world has become a difficult place. In just the last twenty years, it seems we have suffered through financial crisis after financial crisis. If that wasn’t difficult enough, now inflation has risen through the roof, making it even more difficult just to make ends meet.
In this type of world, it has become the responsibility of each person to become an “expert investor” just to have a slim chance of being able to retire. However, the harsh reality is that many people working today will never be able to retire.
People have become desperate, looking for any possible way to finally get ahead. Searching for any possible financial market where there is still a chance to get in early and make great gains.
But the financial world isn’t set up for the “average guy” to get ahead. It takes money to make money, and if you don’t have any, you are out of luck. Most recently, the boomer generation had housing and the S&P500 to invest in, which would have been life-changing investments looking back on them.
However, for today’s generation, the housing market has already escaped most of them, becoming far too expensive. They also feel that they missed their chance with stocks. They have appreciated significantly in price and no longer see dramatic pull-backs that bear markets used to bring due to markets being manipulated by governments.
And then we discovered Bitcoin.
Arguably, for the first time in the history of finance, the average person had the opportunity to front-run Wall Street. If you did, it was the best financial decision of your life. If you consistently dollar-cost averaged into Bitcoin for a handful of years. It is likely that you not only changed your life financially, but probably also “made it.”
This is where things can become dangerous.
We spent years with a single obsession. Accumulating as much Bitcoin and crypto as we possibly could, in order to never have to worry about money again, and then putting it into cold storage. What we didn’t consider enough was what we would do once we were able to achieve it. And how we would become a massive target.
In January 2025, as a chilling reminder of cryptocurrency’s darker implications, the co-founder of hardware wallet maker Ledger endured a horrific experience that sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency market. Ledger co-founder, David Balland, and his wife were kidnapped from their home in France by a violent criminal gang who subjected them to brutal torture. In an act of particular barbarity, the attackers severed one of Balland’s fingers and sent it to his associates as part of their ransom demands. All in an attempt for Balland to give up his crypto to them.
This is a grave reminder that no one in this market is safe, and this threat is compounded even further if you are a public figure in the space. You cannot assume you are safe because you are in a low-crime area, have taken self-custody of your crypto, or just assume that it would never happen to you.
The harsh reality is that these types of crypto kidnappings are becoming more common. If Bitcoin’s price goes to the levels that we are all hoping for, then we will all become even larger targets. Because of this, the whole $5 wrench attack meme in crypto has become even more prevalent.
We all became obsessed with making it in this market, but none of that is important if we aren’t also focusing on keeping our crypto and ourselves safe as well. Hopefully, it is something that never happens to us personally, but this preparation could truly save your life.
How about you? Are you taking your safety in crypto seriously?
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As always, thank you for reading!
