France · CryptoSlate
France’s crypto kidnapping surge exposes the personal data trail behind wrench attacks
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France’s crypto security problem is expanding beyond private keys to include the people whom attackers can identify, threaten, and force to authorize transfers.
Key facts
- Le Parisien, in a report published with AFP, said the figure compares with 45 cases across 2025, giving the new total a clear reference point
- In May 2025, the Interior Ministry said after meeting sector actors that measures would include priority emergency access, home-security audits for exposed people, briefings by elite units including
- CertiK separately reported 72 verified physical coercion incidents worldwide in 2025, up 75% from 2024, with kidnapping as the primary vector and physical assaults up 250%
- The Gendarmerie described a response involving judicial organized-crime coordination, GIGN deployment, cyber specialists, crypto ransom tracing and freezing, and more than 230 gendarmes
Summary
01 France has logged 77 crypto-linked kidnapping, sequestration, extortion, or attempted extortion cases this year. 02 The surge shows crypto security now extends beyond wallets to exposed people, data, and offline threats. 03 Authorities are betting on intelligence sharing and cross-border coordination, but organizers may still operate outside France. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said French authorities have recorded 77 cases this year involving unlawful confinement, abduction, extortion, or attempted extortion tied to crypto-sector actors, according to <a href=” TV</a>.