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inspired by An Unending Variety of Topics by Nick Szabo https://unenumerated.blogspot.com/

$5 Wrench Attack

A $5 Wrench Attack is a physical or social engineering attack where an attacker uses coercion, intimidation, or violence—symbolized by a cheap tool like a $5 wrench—to force a Bitcoin user to reveal their private keys, seed phrase, or access to their crypto funds. Unlike digital cyberattacks (e.g., hacking or phishing), this attack targets the human element, exploiting physical or psychological vulnerabilities.

TLDR

Bad guys will kidnap and torture you for your bitcoin.

https://xkcd.com/538/

Prevention Strategies:

• Maintain OPSEC Avoid publicly disclosing Bitcoin holdings or wealth. Use pseudonyms online and limit sharing on social media.

• Don't buy a Lambo. Win one!

• Store seed phrases and hardware wallets in secure locations, such as a safe deposit box or a hidden safe. Consider tamper-evident storage solutions. Remember that safes are not safe!

• Use multi-signature (multisig) setups requiring multiple keys held in different locations or by trusted parties, making coercion less effective.

• Geographic Distribution: Store backups (e.g., seed phrase copies) in multiple secure locations to reduce the risk of losing everything in one attack. Consider storing keys in different government jurisdications to avoid a 6102 attack.

• Get a gun, consider self-defense training, and install a home security system.

• Duress Codes: Some hardware wallets support duress PINs that unlock a decoy wallet with minimal funds, misleading attackers.

• Wrench Defense: Set up a Bitcoin tripwire in a decoy wallet on your phone. Trigger the silent alarm during a wrench attack to share your location with law enforcement or Liam Neeson.

Wrench Defense

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Books

Essential Reading

The Bitcoin Standard

Layered Money

The Price of Tomorrow

The Book of Satoshi

Broken Money

Inventing Bitcoin

Mastering Bitcoin

Everything Divided by 21 Million

The Sovereign Individual

The Creature from Jekyll Island

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