French police round up 7 suspect in latest crypto-linked kidnapping

French authorities have arrested seven suspects in connection with the kidnapping of a 20-year-old Swiss ￰0￱ is the latest case in France’s growing number of kidnappings linked to the crypto ￰1￱ to reports , the victim was rescued in Valence by 150 gendarmes working together in a special mission last ￰2￱ was found tied up in a house near the city’s high-speed train ￰3￱ aimed at investors with significant crypto assets have grown in popularity, emerging at the crossroads of digital innovation and organized ￰4￱ attacks, which were once limited to isolated events, have spread globally, taking advantage of the openness and decentralization that make cryptocurrency ￰5￱ high-profile executives and influencers to unwitting casual investors, no one in the crypto ecosystem is ￰6￱ leads in crypto kidnapping in Europe France has been through some of the worst cases ￰7￱ took David Balland, co-founder of Ledger, in January, cut off one of his fingers, and demanded a fee before letting him ￰8￱ May, the father of a crypto executive from Malta was taken to ￰9￱ finger was also cut off before the cops came and freed him.

Also, in June, police nabbed Badiss Mohamed Amide Bajjou in Morocco and charged 25 people with plots that included an attack on Paymium CEO Pierre Noizat’s pregnant ￰10￱ Jameson Lopp tracked at least 10 wrench attacks in France in 2025 alone, nearly a quarter of the 48 reported globally this ￰11￱ $128 million obtained through crypto kidnapping Unlike traditional robberies, crypto kidnappings enable criminals to demand large amounts of money that can be transferred fast and ￰12￱ convenience and effectiveness of such transactions highlight the increasing risks associated with digital ￰13￱ the last 18 months, kidnapping attacks on crypto holders have increased, with at least 231 physical occurrences confirmed globally, involving abductions, home invasions, and violent coercion, culminating in the deaths of at least six ￰14￱ irreversible nature of blockchain transactions, along with cryptocurrency’s supposed anonymity, has created a perilous environment in which violence and cunning coercion have emerged as new instruments of ￰15￱ the $166 million stolen through physical attacks on cryptocurrency holders from 2022 to 2025, almost $128 million has been obtained through ￰16￱ cases have amplified the lucrativeness of these attacks with ransoms ranging from six-figure sums to multi-million dollar ￰17￱ leads in crypto violence globally Early on, clusters of violence were most common in Southeast Asia and Latin America.

Now, the pattern of violence is seen all over the ￰18￱ is still the leader in the region, but Europe and the US are now very close ￰19￱ the first half of 2025, France alone has reported six big incidents, such as high-profile kidnappings and violent ￰20￱ US has had 48 proven crypto-related kidnappings since 2019, more than any other ￰21￱ large, coordinated, international syndicates, American cells tend to act with ruthless efficiency and operate independently, making them unpredictable and more challenging to dismantle. Meanwhile, experts say these kidnappings can be stopped if any public disclosure of holdings, even among acquaintances, is completely ￰22￱ pseudonymous identities and fresh wallet addresses for different transactions can be effective in this ￰23￱ up to Bybit and start trading with $30,050 in welcome gifts