France is confronting a severe wave of violent crime targeting cryptocurrency holders, with three attempted kidnappings reported in just three days in early 2026. Victims are being physically coerced—in attacks known as "$5-wrench attacks"—to surrender private keys and access to their digital wallets. Authorities believe these are not isolated incidents but part of a coordinated effort by organized crime groups specifically tracking wealthy crypto investors.
In a related and alarming development, a government employee from the French tax authority was caught leaking sensitive information about citizens' cryptocurrency holdings to an unidentified third party, believed to be connected to criminal networks. This data breach provided criminals with a detailed roadmap to identify and target high-net-worth individuals for extortion and kidnapping.
The crisis, which began accelerating throughout 2025, has seen criminals employ extreme brutality, including the kidnapping of family members and physical mutilation of victims to force compliance. The irreversible nature of blockchain transactions makes these violent physical confrontations uniquely lucrative for criminals compared to digital hacking.
In response, the French Interior Ministry has held emergency briefings with industry leaders, offering security evaluations. However, the perceived inability of law enforcement to prevent these "broad daylight" abductions has led to an explosion in the private executive protection sector, with many crypto entrepreneurs hiring 24-hour armed security. The situation has also sparked a national debate on security and prompted calls for more sophisticated anti-extortion units to track ransom flows across the dark web.
