On March 16, 2022, a masked intruder forced Yuchen Shi to transfer $3 million in cryptocurrency from her San Francisco home, marking the city's first major wrench attack. The case, involving physical coercion rather than hacking, led to an international pursuit and the arrest of her former assistant, Tianze Zhang, in Taiwan. Zhang denies the charges and awaits trial.
In the late afternoon of March 16, 2022, Yuchen “Cassandra” Shi was at her Bernal Heights residence when an intruder, clad in a balaclava, ski goggles, and blue surgical gloves, entered wielding a knife. He bound Shi to a chair using duct tape and zip ties, then communicated demands via an iPad, insisting she access her crypto wallets. Terrified, Shi complied, transferring $3 million in digital assets before the assailant seized her cellphone and fled.
San Francisco Police Department officers arrived that evening, initially treating it as a burglary. The probe quickly expanded, involving the burglary and crime scene investigation units, federal liaisons, a private investigator, crypto experts, the FBI, Taiwanese officials, and Interpol. This incident highlighted wrench attacks, where violence compels victims to surrender crypto keys, a trend seen in dozens of global cases recently. A similar $11 million theft occurred in San Francisco's Mission district in November 2024.
Shi, linked to crypto venture firm D1 Ventures, identified Zhang, her ex-personal assistant hired in 2021 and dismissed a month earlier, from neighbor footage and shared the suspect's image with him. Cellphone records placed Zhang's device near her home on the invasion day and prior. Blockchain analysis by Arkham Exchange and CipherBlade traced funds to Zhang's wallet, enabling a court order to freeze assets at Binance.
An arrest warrant issued March 23 revealed Zhang had flown to Taiwan the next day. Taiwanese police detained him May 30 amid unrelated theft probes, finding him with USB-stored funds as he attempted to escape by boat. Repatriated June 1, Zhang faces charges including aggravated kidnapping and assault, potentially life imprisonment if convicted.
Zhang's attorney, David Cohen, contests the narrative, alleging inconsistencies like mismatched timestamps on footage and unproven fund transfers. He portrays Shi as a former romantic partner fabricating claims. The case, stalled since 2022, saw Zhang released last month on family collateral pending trial; prosecutors cite ongoing preparations for a preliminary hearing.
