Safety and scamsIntermediate
Physical threats: the $5 wrench attack
A "$5 wrench attack" is the name for forcing someone in person to hand over their crypto.
- What it means
- Strong encryption protects the keys but not the person, and the risk grows when people show off their holdings online or in person.
- What to watch
- Posts with balances or screenshots, amounts mentioned in chats, groups or meetups, and how much sits in a wallet that is carried day to day.
- How Compass-Alpha uses it
- Background only; not used in any figure on Compass-Alpha.
Free guides and tools
Crypto Fear & Greed IndexBitcoin DCA calculatorCrypto taxCrypto basics
More in Safety and scams
Rug pull warning signs
A rug pull is when the people behind a token take the money from its trading pool and disappear.
Fake airdrops and phishing links
Messages or tokens that promise a free airdrop to lure you to a look-alike website.
Seed phrase safety
A seed phrase is 12 or 24 words that can restore your whole wallet on any device.