£10K Reward Offered After UK Couple Attacked in Crypto Home Invasion

Three men forced their way into a house in Smith's Wood, Solihull, on the evening of 13 December 2025 and compelled the residents to transfer cryptocurrency to a wallet controlled by the attackers, West Midlands Police and Crimestoppers say. A fourth person appears to have directed the assault remotely, relaying instructions to the perpetrators via a video call, according to the charity. The couple had just returned home at about 5.20pm when the attackers emerged from a nearby car and pushed into the property. Police reported the husband was beaten and sustained significant injuries, while his wife, who was pregnant with their third child, was threatened with a knife. The assailants departed in what witnesses believe was a black BMW X3, taking the funds and several expensive watches. More than nine months after the incident, Crimestoppers launched an appeal on 24 September 2026 offering up to £10,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. The charity’s regional manager for the West Midlands said those involved in planning the attack know what happened and suggested that acquaintances might notice someone suddenly in possession of unexplained money. Security firm CertiK has documented a broader shift toward home invasions in crypto-related physical thefts. In the first half of 2026 CertiK verified 52 attacks with recorded exposure of $124.1 million, and noted that home invasions rose to 20 cases — about 41% of incidents — from a single publicly reported case a year earlier. The firm also described increasingly layered criminal operations in which organisers buy data and coordinate logistics while others carry out the physical attacks; the use of a remote director by video call in this West Midlands case fits that pattern. Europe accounted for roughly three-quarters of the incidents CertiK verified, with France recording 33 cases in the period cited.