French Crypto Trader Kidnapped Near Paris, Released After Refusing €10K Ransom: Report

A 35-year-old former crypto trader was kidnapped and held captive between Paris and Saint-Germain-en-Laye before being released Wednesday morning after his captors failed to extract a €10,000 ransom from his ￰1￱ victim was found walking home around 4:00 am with facial swelling and injuries after being strangled during his confinement, marking the latest in a surge of crypto-related kidnappings plaguing ￰2￱ Underway as France Leads Crypto Kidnapping Case According to leParisien , police launched an immediate investigation Tuesday night after receiving a disturbing call from Algeria, where the victim’s acquaintance had received a photo showing Alexandre on his knees with his hands ￰3￱ kidnappers demanded €10,000 from the contact in exchange for the former trader’s release, prompting authorities to geolocate his phone to Paris’s 10th arrondissement.

Anti-crime squad officers recognized Alexandre returning home Wednesday morning, describing him as “shocked” with visible facial injuries from strangulation attempts by his ￰4￱ technicians collected traces and evidence from his clothing and skin to identify the perpetrators, while investigators work to verify his statements about the incident ￰5￱ case represents just the tenth crypto-linked kidnapping reported in France during recent months, contributing to a global surge that has seen at least 32 “wrench attacks” in 2025, according to Bitcoin security advocate Jameson ￰6￱ one-third of these incidents have occurred in France, so far establishing the country as a dangerous hotspot for crypto-related violent ￰7￱ Crime Networks Target French Crypto Elite Through Systematic Violence French authorities have identified coordinated criminal networks systematically targeting crypto entrepreneurs and their families through increasingly brutal ￰8￱ May, prosecutors charged 25 suspects linked to multiple abduction plots, including attempts on Paymium CEO Pierre Noizat’s daughter, using fake delivery vans as ￰9￱ a powerful sweep, Paris authorities charged 25 suspects, including six minors, cracking down on a surge of violent crypto abductions shaking the city’s streets. #CryptoKidnap #France ￰0￱ — ￰10￱ (@cryptonews) June 2, 2025 The January kidnapping of Ledger co-founder David Balland marked a turning point in violence escalation, with attackers severing one of his fingers while demanding crypto ￰11￱ suspects were later arrested in connection with that case, revealing an international network operating between France and ￰12￱ high-profile incidents have involved attackers disguising themselves as delivery workers using stolen or counterfeit branded vans from services like UPS and ￰13￱ May, four men kidnapped a poker player’s father in Paris , severing his finger and filming the mutilation to coerce his son into transferring €5-7 ￰14￱ a result, in June, Moroccan authorities arrested Franco-Moroccan suspect Badiss Mohamed Amide Bajjou in Tangier following an Interpol Red Notice, identifying him as a key organizer coordinating operations from outside ￰15￱ believe a second Franco-Moroccan organizer remains at large, using social media to recruit young French nationals for execution ￰16￱ criminal networks used sophisticated intelligence gathering, with victims apparently selected based on detailed knowledge of their crypto holdings and daily ￰17￱ Crypto Kidnapping Epidemic Spreads Beyond French Borders The violence extends across multiple continents, with Belgium sentencing three men to 12 years for kidnapping crypto investor Stephane Winkel’s wife in December ￰18￱ attackers were intercepted near Bruges after forcing her into a French-registered van, though the masterminds behind the operation remain unidentified.

Similarly, Australian crypto billionaire Tim Heath narrowly escaped kidnapping in Estonia when attackers using GPS tracking devices attempted to transport him to a rented sauna house for forced cryptocurrency ￰19￱ attacker lost part of his finger when Heath fought back during the ￰20￱ US cases include two NYPD officers placed on modified duty over alleged involvement in a 17-day crypto kidnapping and torture case involving an Italian national in Manhattan.