Overview
- The two brothers, which pleaded guilty Thursday, admitted they drove from Texas to Grant, Minnesota, on Sept. 19, 2025, and held a family at gunpoint while forcing transfers of more than $8 million in cryptocurrency.
- Court filings say the suspects zip-tied the victims, detained them for more than eight hours, and forced the father to retrieve hardware wallets from a family cabin to move additional funds.
- Investigators used items left at the home, surveillance and travel records to identify the men and arrested them near Houston days after the attack.
- In federal pleas entered June 18, both men admitted using firearms during the robbery, agreed to pay over $8 million in restitution, and each faces up to 20 years in prison with sentencing pending.
- Authorities and security firms note the case as a prominent example of rising violent ‘wrench attacks,’ a trend where criminals use physical coercion to seize crypto, and the prosecution highlights cross‑state cooperation and challenges in valuing and recovering digital assets.