An armed robbery near Pattaya, Thailand has resulted in the theft of over $800,000 in cryptocurrency. Three armed men invaded a gated community residence in Nongprue early Tuesday morning, forcing the resident to surrender digital assets along with cash and luxury items.
The victim, a Chinese expat with Turkish citizenship, was subdued in his bedroom at approximately 3:30 a.m. when the attackers used a ladder to breach the home. At gunpoint, the man was forced to open a safe and hand over cash and three luxury watches. He was also coerced into transferring $820,000 in cryptocurrency, which the attackers subsequently sold. The victim later escaped and reported the crime to authorities.
Police Region 2 is investigating the incident, with the Immigration Bureau included in the probe. Authorities have located the attackers' abandoned vehicle in a remote area and identified it in CCTV footage from October 5, the day before the robbery. Police are tracking the digital assets that were sold to identify the accounts involved in the transaction and work toward recovering the stolen funds.
The incident represents another example of a "wrench attack," in which cryptocurrency holders are deliberately targeted through coercion and violence. According to blockchain auditing firm Chainalysis, criminals stole more than $30 million through such violent attacks in the first half of 2026. It remains unclear whether the victim was specifically targeted for his cryptocurrency holdings or if the attackers discovered his assets during the raid.
