Recently, travel blogger Lan Zhanfei, who has over twenty million followers on Douyin, encountered trouble in South Africa. He was kidnapped at a five-star hotel by a Chinese man in collaboration with two Black individuals armed with knives. It is said that this group may have planned for half a year in advance. Once this incident spread on social media, people in the crypto community felt both familiar and fearful.
In recent years, there have been more and more kidnapping cases targeting cryptocurrency holders, from France to the UAE, from the United States to South America. Cryptocurrencies do not rely on banks, they can be transferred easily, and the wealth of those crypto millionaires is astonishingly large, making them prime targets for criminal organizations, rather than random victims. It's no wonder that big players in the crypto space are willing to spend a lot on security, with budgets that would leave traditional companies amazed. Now, let's take a look at just how high these security budgets are for the big players in the crypto world.
Let's first talk about Coinbase's CEO Brian Armstrong. In the crypto circle, his security expenditure budget is certainly among the top. Coinbase disclosed in its annual proxy statement submitted to the SEC in April 2025 that in 2024, the company spent $6.2 million on his personal security. Since 2020, the total security expenditure on him has exceeded $20 million. Calculating it out, he spends nearly $20,000 daily on security.
Brian's security procedures are incredibly meticulous, almost to the point of paranoia. He has certified armed guards by his side, his accommodation is very secure, and the security measures at his residence are particularly rigorous. All packages delivered to his residence must undergo X-ray screening, and if suspicious items are detected, the security team will immediately initiate bomb disposal procedures. On July 12, 2025, while Brian was not at home, an unmarked white van delivered a package. The security team followed standard procedures to X-ray the package, and the screen showed the outline of batteries, wires, and cylindrical objects, which closely resembled the typical structure of an improvised explosive device. The security personnel quickly contacted local law enforcement, and the bomb squad arrived on the scene to investigate. After a thorough check, it turned out that the package contained a tequila gift box sent by The All-In Podcast team, and the batteries and wires shown on the X-ray were actually designed for a light-up device for the bottles. Although this was a mix-up, it indirectly illustrates that the $6.2 million annual security expenditure by Coinbase for Brian is indeed quite valuable.
Let's take a look at Michael Saylor, the executive chairman of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), known as the 'largest holder of Bitcoin.' In October 2025, his security budget increased from $1.4 million to $2 million. Why the adjustment? It turns out that there have been too many violent incidents targeting corporate executives from 2024 to 2025, such as the assassination attempt on the CEO of UnitedHealth Group and attacks on security personnel from Rudin Management. Back in 2013, Michael Saylor's annual security costs were only $58,000, when investors questioned why a software company CEO would spend so much on bodyguards. However, since he started aggressively buying Bitcoin in 2020, by 2025, the company had already held over 580,000 BTC. This significantly increased his personal risk, and his security budget rose accordingly to the current $2 million.
Now, when Saylor attends events, he is accompanied by personal bodyguards and armed drivers, and he travels by private jet. In May and September 2025, several Bitcoin bars in New York were reported to have witnessed him 'surrounded by bodyguards.' Although the exact size of the team has not been disclosed, according to a survey by Goldman Sachs Ayco, a standard configuration for executives like him would require at least one accompanying bodyguard and an armed driver.
The threats Saylor faces are not limited to physical ones; digital attacks are also quite serious. In January 2024, his security team had to delete approximately 80 AI-generated deepfake videos daily that falsely impersonated Saylor promoting Bitcoin scams, luring users to scan QR codes to participate in fraudulent 'Bitcoin doubling' activities. Saylor himself warned people on social media: 'There is no such thing as a risk-free Bitcoin doubling method... My team deletes about 80 fake AI-generated YouTube videos daily... Don't believe it; verify it.' This continuous digital threat, combined with physical security needs, explains why this Bitcoin billionaire spends so much on security.
Vitalik Buterin's security situation is quite different from the previous two; his lifestyle is the epitome of 'contrast art.' After obtaining permanent residency in Singapore in 2023, he has adopted a minimalist lifestyle there. He rents an apartment in Bukit Timah for about 5,000 to 7,000 SGD per month, travels by subway, works in cafes, and even hand-washes his clothes to save $4 on laundry fees. Although his net worth exceeds $1.1 billion, he appears no different from ordinary residents on the streets of Singapore, without bodyguards following him.
However, when attending events, the organizers generally arrange a bodyguard team for Vitalik to ensure his safety. For example, during the Devcon-related events in Thailand in December 2024, Bodyguard VIP Thailand provided a customized personal security plan for Vitalik and other cryptocurrency guests, equipped with top local bodyguards. In September 2024, photos taken by attendees at a cryptocurrency conference showed that Vitalik was also accompanied by several bodyguards and security measures.
But most of the time, Vitalik does not have bodyguards. In July 2024, at the ETHCC conference in Brussels, Vitalik arrived alone on a bus in the rain, his clothes still wet while he was speaking, and left on foot afterward, all without bodyguards accompanying him.
Vitalik's greatest threat also lies in the digital realm. In 2023, he suffered a SIM swap attack where someone reset his Twitter password and published phishing NFT minting links, resulting in his fans losing approximately $700,000 in assets. This incident has led him to continue publicly discussing the dangers of SIM swap attacks, advising users to remove the phone numbers linked to their X accounts.
Justin Sun, who usually acts quite high-profile, also has a noticeable security configuration, often accompanied by several burly bodyguards. In June 2023, when Sun went to Hong Kong, there were reports of a huge bounty offered to slap him and throw eggs at him. In such a situation, the four bodyguards who accompanied Sun became the focus of online discussions, with one particularly fierce-looking and seemingly reliable bodyguard rated as the top.
Later, Sun also mentioned on social media that he mistakenly thought this bodyguard was Filipino, but turned out to be a Gurkha from Nepal, which is one of the most famous mercenary systems in the world.
Sun's awareness of security is particularly advanced, reflected not only in his security measures but also in the privacy protection of his wealth values. On August 11, 2025, Sun sued Bloomberg in the U.S., claiming that Bloomberg violated a confidentiality agreement while compiling the billionaire index by disclosing detailed cryptocurrency holdings he provided for verifying his wealth. Such detailed disclosures could increase the risk of 'theft, hacking, kidnapping, and personal harm to him and his family' through wallet clustering analysis. He even cited Bloomberg's own reports as court evidence, stating that in 2025, there were 51 cases globally of cryptocurrency investors being violently coerced into surrendering their private keys.
The security details of Binance founder CZ Zhao Changpeng have been less exposed. Until the court ruling documents in the U.S. in 2024 surfaced, media found in 160 letters of support that a so-called 'old classmate' named Xin Wang claimed to be CZ's friend from his youth and also his bodyguard. Xin Wang recalled in the letter their acquaintance at McGill University, stating that young CZ was a 'bookish, bespectacled child' and has grown up to be 'quiet, pragmatic, and kind.' This bodyguard is not an ordinary security personnel; he is also the CEO of Bayview Acquisition Corp, providing advisory services for mergers and acquisitions to financial institutions and is qualified to practice law in California, England, and Wales. In April 2024, he was appointed as an independent board member of Binance, which is quite rare in the cryptocurrency security field.
The security approach of another Ethereum co-founder, Anthony Di Iorio, is completely different from Vitalik's; he opts for around-the-clock security. Anthony was born into a wealthy family, and as an early participant in Ethereum, the amount of ETH he holds easily makes him a high-value target. Moreover, the nature of self-custody assets in cryptocurrency prevents traditional financial insurance from covering potential personal threats.
Therefore, since 2017, he has employed a private bodyguard team that follows him wherever he goes or waits at his destination. In 2018, Forbes estimated his net worth to be between $750 million and $1 billion, placing him among the top 20 wealthiest individuals in the cryptocurrency sector. That year, he spent $22 million in Canada to purchase the most expensive apartment, a three-story penthouse, partially paid for with digital currency, which caused quite a stir. In 2018, it seems his security team also increased the budget, as witnesses reported seeing him travel with 'a small entourage including bodyguards,' and this around-the-clock security configuration continued until he exited the scene.
In 2021, he announced that due to personal safety and other factors, he decided to 'liquidate' and exit the industry, no longer funding any blockchain projects. He stated at the time: 'I do not feel safe in this industry... If I focus on bigger issues, I think I will be safer.' Thus, he sold his company Decentral, severing major ties with blockchain startups, and turned to philanthropy to avoid being labeled as a 'cryptocurrency person.'
Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, manages the $78 billion USDC stablecoin and a publicly listed company worth $20 billion, making him a key figure in crypto financial infrastructure. According to Circle's S-1 filing submitted on April 1, 2025, the company allocated $800,000 for his personal security in 2024. In the year when multiple 'crypto kidnapping cases' broke out in places like France, Dubai, and Argentina, this amount is not exaggerated; several reports quoted Circle's prospectus confirming this figure.#加密市场观察
