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$5 wrench attack

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The $5 dollar wrench attack (5DWA) is a way of saying that criminals might use physical violence in order to steal your crypto funds. It was immortalized by this XKCD comic.

Crypto wallets have no limits like bank accounts; you only need a private key (or a hardware wallet containing them and its pin code) to access and transfer all your crypto funds.

Showing off your Lambo and Rolex or that $5 BitCoin sweater might attract the wrong crowd, who might think that you are loaded with crypto and a $5 wrench is all they need to take it off of you.

Multisig, decoy wallets, anons and Shamir Secret Sharing backups are some ways to mitigate the 5DWA, but of course, the problem is convincing the thieves that these precautions are in fact in place.


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