Since 2014, more than 100 physical attacks have targeted Bitcoin holders and infrastructure supporting BTC transactions, according to a list published on GitHub on June 12th. The list tracks known physical attacks on BTC holders, including crypto ATMs. It reveals that Hal Finney, who is believed to have been in contact with BTC’s founder Satoshi Nakamoto, was the first victim, having been “SWATed” in 2014 after months of online harassment. Other recorded attacks include the theft of two Bitcoin ATMs in the Netherlands in 2015 and a case of extortion involving Jameson Lopp, the CTO of Casa, who was “SWATed” in 2017.

Unfounded beliefs held by some new users, thieves or attackers that Bitcoin is a physical asset like cash that can be stolen are mistaken, given that crypto holders need to approve transactions using their private keys. Without them, attackers cannot steal coins. Additionally, cryptocurrency transactions are transparent, which enables assets to be traced on reporting to the authorities. Risks from decentralized finance protocol hackers have resulted in the reversal of funds due to transparency threats in blockchain networks like Ethereum or the BNB Chain.

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