Musician Jonathan Meléndez and Family Killed Over Bitcoin Cold Wallet

Mexican prosecutors allege two men targeted the home of Camilo Séptimo keyboardist Jonathan Meléndez in search of a cold wallet believed to contain millions in Bitcoin, resulting in the deaths of Meléndez, his pregnant wife Ana Paula Barragán, their three-year-old daughter Sofía, and a 21-year-old domestic worker Aleyda Romero on September 1 in Atizapán de Zaragoza. The couple's six-year-old son survived. Prosecutors stated the suspects, identified as Diego Sebastián and Gerardo, entered the home looking for the cold wallet and that Sebastián, a business associate of Meléndez, offered Gerardo 2 million pesos, approximately 118000 dollars, to assist in obtaining the cryptocurrency. Both suspects were arrested on September 2. Cold wallets, which are devices like hardware wallets that store private keys for accessing funds, do not eliminate physical threats, making crypto holders vulnerable to attacks. The killings highlight a rise in physical assaults targeting cryptocurrency holders, with blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis reporting 46 violent crypto attacks through late June, resulting in over 30 million dollars stolen in the first half of 2026, with home invasions accounting for 37% of incidents.

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