Coinbase spent roughly $7.6 million on personal security for CEO Brian Armstrong in 2025, a more than 20% increase from the previous year.
Spending Increase Follows Rise in Physical Attacks
This figure, according to the company’s proxy filings cited in a Bloomberg report, comes after a 75% increase in physical attacks on cryptocurrency holders last year. Data from blockchain security firm CertiK indicates 72 confirmed incidents and $41 million in known losses.
The $7.6 million spent by Coinbase exceeds the typical security spending disclosed by major Wall Street banks for their CEOs. In comparison, Gemini reportedly spent around $2.5 million on security for co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in 2025 and has since contracted to protect the twins and their families for $400,000 per month.
Circle spent nearly $800,000 on CEO Jeremy Allaire in 2024, while Robinhood spent approximately $1.6 million on Vlad Tenev. The heightened focus on security is evident throughout the industry. For instance, at the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas last month, prominent speakers were seen with personal bodyguards.
Security Concerns Drive Demand for Protection
A workshop led by Bitcoin security expert Ben Perrin, which taught attendees how to protect their digital assets under physical coercion, including the use of decoy wallets, time-lock mechanisms, and duress features on hardware wallets, was one of the most popular at the conference.
Similar security measures were in place at Paris Blockchain Week a few weeks earlier, where guests were escorted by a police motorcade to a VIP dinner, and organizers increased security around the event.
The threat is tangible, as illustrated by the case of Sillytuna, a crypto holder who reported in March that armed attackers stole around $24 million in tokens after physically intimidating him and threatening kidnapping and sexual assault.
The vulnerability of crypto owners stems from the technology itself. Public blockchains are pseudonymous, not anonymous, revealing ownership information to anyone with the appropriate analytical tools. As a result, leaked exchange data and chain analytics have created, in Bloomberg’s words, “a legible map of who holds what.”
Consequently, demand for protection services has surged. Executive Risk Services, a firm specializing in the digital-asset industry, has seen client inquiries increase from roughly once per quarter two years ago to about once a week now.
Amsterdam-based Infinite Risks International, which provides bodyguards, armored vehicles, and social media monitoring to crypto holders, has also experienced a rise in inquiries, long-term clients, and proactive requests, according to Managing Director Jethro Pijlman.
France has become a hotspot for crypto crime following a series of attacks on crypto entrepreneurs and their families. Last year, the country’s Interior Minister pledged to establish a priority emergency number for the industry, with elite police units offering security briefings for crypto executives and their families.
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