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Key Takeaways
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| By Bob Czeschin Reviewed by: Beth Canova |
France recently leaped ahead of the U.S. in a surprising category …
The world’s most dangerous country in which to own crypto.
The French Interior Ministry recently reported 90 cases of physical assault on crypto owners.
Known as “wrench attacks,” thieves used kidnapping, extortion, threats, and violence against their victims.
So far, this has resulted in 223 arrests, with 126 people jailed.
The most common form of wrench attack (during the first half of 2026), is home invasions.
That these are on the rise suggests something important: Criminals are increasingly bypassing digital safeguards … by physically coercing crypto holders and their families.
In a twisted way, this is evidence that the average crypto holder is getting smarter.
Most crypto asset holders nowadays know how to keep their coins safe.
They don’t share their seed phrases and keep them offline.
They set up hardware wallets.
They know how to spot phishing attempts.
So, hackers had to get smarter. Because, while those items are still essential, none of them help if the attacker already knows …
- who you are,
- where you live,
- and how much Bitcoin (BTC, “B+”) or other cryptos you control.
Cryptography can protect a wallet. But it’s no help against an attacker who can reach out to you in person.
Related Story: Trezor Data Breach Raises Serious Security Concerns
Wrench Attacks Are Nothing New
Why they’re going up so fast in France (and elsewhere) is likely because of major recent security breaches.
And the data stolen exposed who holds crypto … and where they live.
In 2024, a Paris tax official “leaked PII, financial and crypto holding information on French taxpayers.”
An upsurge in wrench attacks followed a few months later.
Then, earlier this year, crypto tax reporting firm Waltio disclosed a breach affecting some 50,000 users.
But the mother lode is likely the European Union’s recent DAC8 rule. It vacuums up information on private crypto holdings across the continent.
A leading critic, Francis Pouliot, says: “DAC8 has changed Know Your Customer … into Kill Your Customer.
And made France the world’s crypto kidnapping capital.”
Why Bitcoin Is No Help
To be sure, Bitcoin boasts profound benefits.
Transactions, once written to the blockchain, are immutable. No power on earth can change or censor them.
And it’s hard ceiling on the total number of BTC that can ever be created makes the asset inflation resistant.
But most importantly, unlike U.S. dollars or stablecoins, no government on the planet can ever confiscate your BTC.
Or freeze your account balance.
But what Bitcoin cannot offer … is privacy.
Every transaction ever made is on the blockchain instantly available for inspection. By anyone with appropriate software, and an internet connection.
The First Privacy Coin
Accordingly, developers of the world’s first privacy coin has a very simply vision: Take Bitcoin’s open-source code, and encrypt the whole dang thing.
Then, they named it Monero (XMR, “C+”).
And it worked very well. Too well, you might say.
Governments around the world — from nanny states to full-blown authoritarian regimes — vilified it as a currency of criminals.
They banned XMR from regulated crypto exchanges. And threatened vendors accepting it as payment for goods and services.
A few observers, however, saw both the potential and the issue keeping XMR from reaching it.
Namely, it’s “always-on” encryption. They believed it was a mistake to make privacy not just the default, but a user’s only option.
So, a new team came up with an alertnative that featured an on/off switch for encrypting transactions: ZCash (ZEC, “B-”).
The switch works because ZCash offers two types of addresses.
- Transparent addresses (t-addresses): These work like Bitcoin addresses — all details are public on the ledger. And …
- Shielded addresses (z-addresses): These encrypt the sender, receiver, and amount. What gets posted to the blockchain is only a cryptographic proof that verifies the transaction’s legitimacy without exposing its contents.
Users can switch freely between transparent and shielded addresses, giving them the flexibility to choose privacy when needed. And transparency when demanded.
That was the missing ingredient.
The end of always-on encryption made ZEC far more difficult to slander by hostile governments.
Investment Implications
Despite a tough crypto winter — which saw BTC fall 50% from its October 2025 highs — ZEC outperformed by a mile.
Year to date, BTC is down about 15%.
ZEC, on the other hand, is up roughly 97%. And that’s after its rough start to the week.
In a year where most traders sat on the sidelines, my colleague Juan Villaverde guided his Weiss Crypto Portfolio members to four rounds of gains on ZEC.
The biggest win rang the bell near 164%.
That’s impressive on its own. Even more so when you remember this was a bear cycle.
But now the tide has turned.
The lows are in.
And a new bull market likely lies ahead in early 2027. Which means there’s likely much more upside ahead for ZEC and a handful of other blue-chip cryptos.
More importantly, we’re quickly approaching the time to load up while these coins are still trading at discounted prices.
Juan recently spoke about which altcoins he believes will outperform in the coming rally. And when he expects it to get underway.
You’ll want to check that out before you look for your next crypto purchase.
Best,
Bob Czeschin
