Being your own bank can backfire: the rise of personal crypto theft

BBC InDepth reports that personal crypto theft surged to about $713 million in 2024–25 as ownership climbs; attackers use hacks, scams, social engineering, and even wrench attacks to target ordinary investors, often with self-custody wallets leaving victims unprotected and unrecoverable. High-profile cases—from a UK couple losing hundreds of thousands after a cloud-storage breach to networks of hackers and even North Korean actors profiting from crypto—illustrate the growing risk. Regulators note crypto is still largely unregulated in the UK, and experts urge stronger wallet security, features like geofencing, and better protections for everyday users.