You've probably heard that cryptocurrency is about freedom, anonymity, and wealth. But it turned out that with wealth comes the other side of the coin — fear. More and more cryptomillionaires have begun to take personal security as seriously as protecting their digital assets. Now armored vehicles, bodyguards, and digital hygiene are not a whim, but a necessity.
What happened? It all started with the fact that crypto owners became the target not only of hackers, but also of real kidnappers. Stories like the one where the co-founder of Ledger was abducted and mutilated, and criminals tried to steal the daughter of the CEO of the Paymium crypto exchange, are no longer uncommon. And although digital security has advanced a lot, criminals have simply switched to the good old "physical" approach of coming to your house.
The situation was worsened by the leak of Coinbase user data: hackers found out the addresses, photos of identity cards and balances of crypto wallets. This is exactly the kind of data you need to turn a crypto investor into a target.
Companies are reacting: Coinbase spends millions of dollars protecting its CEO, more than banks like JPMorgan. Security now includes surveillance of social networks so as not to blurt out too much, and round-the-clock security with trained bodyguards. And some crypto conferences are already taking place with the support of special forces — no joke.
Interestingly, the crypto market itself, although not as gigantic as the traditional one, already spends more on security for top managers than the old financial giants. Why? Because the threat has become too real.
And now I have a question for you:
If you had a crypto wallet worth a couple million dollars, would you sleep well at night or hire security too?