France has a kidnapping problem, and crypto is at the center of it. In just the past year, ten attacks have targeted wealthy crypto figures and their families. Street grabs, severed fingers, ransom demands payable in digital coins. It’s brutal, and it’s getting worse.
The incidents read like a crime thriller nobody asked for. Ledger co-founder David Balland and his partner were kidnapped in January 2025, with a crypto ransom demanded. A crypto executive’s father was abducted in early May 2025, losing fingers before police rescued him. Then someone tried snatching the Paymium CEO’s daughter, son-in-law, and grandson on a Paris street. A shopkeeper stopped that one. Lucky timing.
French gangs have figured something out. If you know someone is rich in crypto, you don’t need to hack them. You just grab someone they love.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau got the message. In May 2025, he quietly met with crypto leaders, offering priority emergency police access, home security checks, and briefings from elite units like GIGN and RAID. The meeting was kept confidential. No cameras, no journalists filming participants. Smart, given the circumstances.
The government’s language shifted too. This is no longer framed as a tech crime. It’s a personal protection issue now. That’s a meaningful distinction.
The industry is adapting, expensively. Coinbase spent over $6 million protecting CEO Brian Armstrong in 2024. Circle dropped $800,000 on CEO Jeremy Allaire’s security. Robinhood spent $1.6 million guarding co-founder Vlad Tenev. Many executives are also reconsidering how publicly they display wealth, recognizing that reputational and personal risks extend well beyond financial markets into their physical lives.
Bodyguards, residential protection, altered social media habits. Founders are rethinking how visibly they hold their own crypto.
Regulators are also getting nervous. Current crypto rules allow access to personal data of holders, which investigators say is helping criminals identify targets. The proposed Narotra anti-narcotics law reportedly could make crypto holders even more vulnerable. Prosecutors are actively investigating links between incidents. The Coinbase data breach in May exposed sensitive customer data, including names and addresses, giving criminals yet another tool to locate and target individuals.
French authorities are calling this a “new criminal phenomenon,” a shift from cyber threats to physical ones. That’s a polite way of saying crypto success now comes with a very uncomfortable price. Physical assaults rose by 250% year-over-year, a number that makes clear this threat is no longer theoretical.
