In the United States of America, a gun robbery involving encrypted assets entered the plea phase. The federal prosecution disclosed on 18 June that two brothers from Texas had pleaded guilty to the robbery charges. According to the prosecution, two individuals had taken control of the family with a gun at the victim ' s home and forced the transfer of digital assets in excess of $8 million.

Up to 20 years

According to the Minnesota Federal Prosecutor's Office, Isiah Angelo Garcia, 25, and Raymond Christian Garcia, 24, both admitted to a charge of “disturbing business by robbery”. According to the prosecution, each of them could face federal imprisonment of up to 20 years, with a date yet to be determined.

The prosecution further indicated that in their plea agreement, both agreed to pay compensation in excess of $8 million. According to the United States Department of Justice, the case was related to a house robbery in September 2025 in Grant, Minnesota.

A family of three is under control for over eight hours.

The court records show that the case occurred on 19 September 2025. The prosecution stated that the two defendants, after having broken into the victim ' s house, tied the victim, his wife and son and controlled the family with a gun for more than eight hours, demanding that access to the encrypted account be surrendered.

According to the prosecution, one of the accused subsequently took the main victim to a family cabin in northern Minnesota, forcing him to remove additional encryption assets storage equipment. Eventually, victims were forced to transfer more than $8 million in digital assets.

The case materials also show that the victim ' s son called 911 after one of the suspects left the house. When the police arrived at the scene, the victim ' s wife and son were still tied to the house. The investigators then found a dismantled AR-15 rifle, ammunition and other items near the house.

Residual evidence points to Texas.

According to the United States Department of Justice, the investigators targeted the suspects on the basis of remnants from the scene. Earlier prosecution documents showed that a Wendy's ticket, car rental records, motel records and surveillance videos had helped the police track the whereabouts of the two men who had fled Minnesota.

Police arrested two men in Texas on 22 September 2025. According to the prosecution, Isiah Garcia subsequently admitted that he and his brother had driven from Texas to Minnesota, controlled the victim ' s family with a gun and forced him to complete an encrypted asset transfer.

The case was initially prosecuted by the County of Washington, Minnesota, on charges of kidnapping, robbery and burglary, and then moved on to the federal level.

Increased number of cases of violence against currency holders

This guilty plea has also drawn renewed attention to “the wrench attack”. The term is usually used to mean that criminals do not rely on technical invasions, but rather directly force currency holders to hand over digital assets through violence, threats or kidnapping.

The security agency CertiK previously reported that between January and April 2026, 34 such cases had been confirmed globally, with an estimated loss of approximately $101 million. Its earlier report indicated that a total of 72 verified cases of classified offences such as physical coercion had been recorded in 2025, an increase of 75 per cent over 2024.

There have also been numerous kidnappings and attempted kidnappings in France this year in connection with encrypted assets. As the number of cases of underline violence against currency holders increases, such cases are becoming a constant focus of attention for law enforcement and security companies.