A surge in real-world assaults on cryptocurrency owners has spurred top figures to overhaul how they safeguard their assets. They’re no longer just guarding against hackers—they’re bracing for kidnappers and armed thieves.

Seed phrases once held on a single device have been broken up, encrypted and scattered across four continents to keep any one breach from spilling the whole stash.

According to reports, the family of Bitcoin advocate Didi Taihuttu has split its seed phrases across four continents. They used a method that scrambles and stores parts of their recovery words in steel plates and in encrypted online services.

Over the past eight months, they moved to this hybrid system. It means that even if attackers find one piece, they can’t crack the whole code.

Didi Taihuttu personally hammered and punched letters into a steel plate—one of several he uses to secure a fragment of the family’s Bitcoin seed phrase—in a decentralized storage network that spans four continents. Source: Didi Taihuttu/CNBC.

Based on reports from CNBC, Taihuttu says he keeps only small amounts in a phone wallet. He told a reporter in Thailand, “Even if someone held me at gunpoint, I can’t give them more than what’s on my phone wallet — and that’s not much.”

A smarter move, perhaps, since having little on hand can slow down kidnappers who demand you unlock your main stash.

Didi, Romaine and their three daughters mostly live off the grid, handling their crypto through decentralized exchanges, automated trading bots, and a cold-storage network spread around the world. Source: Didi Taihuttu/CNBC.

Moroccan police have arrested a suspect accused of targeting crypto executives. In France, the father of a crypto millionaire suffered a brutal beating. And in New York, a tourist was held for over two weeks and tortured for access to his Bitcoin.

These incidents have raised fears across the industry. Some estimates say that up to 65% of Taihuttu’s holdings now sit in cold storage across different continents.

In May, private security firms such as Infinite Risks International saw a sharp jump in demand from crypto professionals seeking round-the-clock protection. Bodyguards and safe houses are no longer a luxury. They are becoming a necessity.

Many industry insiders now carry panic buttons and use anonymous phones to keep their movements secret.

The Taihuttu family has also pulled away from big vault services and bank-like custodians. They say they prefer full control over their assets.

According to Taihuttu, putting your coins into a company’s vault can backfire if that firm runs into trouble. Instead, they rely on a mix of cold storage, multi-signature wallets, and decentralized exchanges for trading and daily spending.

Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView