Security spending is climbing across the crypto sector. Bloomberg, citing recent corporate filings, reported that Coinbase spent about $8.7 million in 2025 on security and related protection measures for CEO Brian Armstrong, up from about $6.2 million in 2024. Gemini has also increased its spending. A latest filing said the company entered a services agreement in January 2026 with Winklevoss Capital Management for executive protection, secure transportation, and risk advisory services at a fixed rate of $400,000 per month, plus certain reimbursed expenses.
The shift is tied less to on-chain exploits than to physical threats. In crypto, a “wrench attack” describes a case where criminals use threats or violence to force a victim to surrender private keys, passwords, or wallet access. The danger has expanded beyond online fraud and cyber intrusions. Executives, investors, and even people attending industry events have become targets.
Coinbase treats executive protection as a necessary expense
Coinbase’s earlier proxy statement said the company may provide personal security services when its security team determines they are needed. Those services can include certified protection officers, secure lodging, and residential security. The filing described such costs as “reasonable and necessary expenses” for the company and its stockholders. The latest increase shows how public-facing crypto executives are dealing with risks that extend beyond cyberattacks.
For exchanges, the perimeter has widened. They are expected to protect data, wallets, employees, and in some cases the people most closely associated with their brands. Security is no longer only a technical function in the background. It is becoming part of operating costs.
Gemini locks in monthly protection services
Gemini’s filing said the agreement with Winklevoss Capital Management covers the company’s CEO, president, their family members, and other individuals Gemini may designate from time to time. The services include executive protection, secure transportation, and risk advisory support, with a fixed monthly fee and additional reimbursable expenses.
The arrangement shows how personal protection is being formalized inside crypto firms. Once an executive’s name, wealth, and public profile are closely tied to digital assets, the exposure becomes personal as well as corporate.
France data highlights the offline threat
crypto.news previously reported that France recorded 41 crypto-linked kidnappings in 2026, equal to roughly one case every 2.5 days. The same report said France had become one of Europe’s main hotspots for crypto ransom attacks. Those figures help explain why companies are putting more weight on physical security rather than relying only on digital defenses.
Recent incidents show the pattern. One report described a French crypto worker who fought off an armed intruder posing as a delivery driver during a home invasion. Police later arrested a suspect and charged him with attempted armed robbery. In another case covered in market updates, a trader offered a 10% bounty after claiming a violent crypto robbery involving $24 million. Both cases were presented as part of the wider spread of wrench attacks, where force is used in place of code to steal digital assets.