The Future of Owning Bitcoin | Jonathan Pollock

Jonathan Pollock, product lead for Bitkey at Block, discusses self-custody challenges, particularly wrench attacks—physical coercion to access keys—and how Bitkey addresses them through seedless designs and multi-layered safety.

Wrench Attacks as a Core Self-Custody Flaw

Pollock identifies wrench attacks as a structural weakness in Bitcoin self-custody. Even with perfect setups, coercion exploits the fact that everyone values something—like family—more than their Bitcoin. Reports suggest dozens of attacks weekly, often gruesome, with France as a current hotspot and incidents in London involving knife-point thefts from phones or exchanges. Current mitigations like duress pins or decoy wallets fall short: they may anger attackers without ending the threat, require recovery mechanisms that prolong exposure, or rely on user resistance in violence. True solutions must protect funds assuming full attacker knowledge and victim compliance, shifting burden from individuals to systemic restrictions like time delays and biometrics.