France plans crackdown as crypto kidnappings surge to one every 2.5 days

France has logged 41 crypto-linked kidnappings in 2026, prompting Interior Ministry plans for tougher measures after the country became Europe’s hotspot for “wrench attacks.”

French Interior Ministry representative Jean‑Didier Berger says France will introduce new measures “in the coming weeks” to deal with a wave of crypto‑linked kidnappings that has made the country an epicenter of what police now call “wrench attacks.” Speaking at Paris Blockchain Week, Berger said authorities have already launched a prevention platform aimed at digital asset holders and attracted thousands of registrations, framing the next step as a tighter, more coordinated law‑enforcement response.

So far in 2026, officials have counted 41 kidnapping cases tied to cryptocurrency in France, an average of roughly one every 2.5 days, according to figures cited by Berger and local media. In 2025, global incidents of such ransom attacks rose 75% year‑on‑year, with France the worst‑hit country worldwide and accounting for about 40% of all cases recorded in Europe.

Berger said he is working with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez on a “more stringent response plan” that will be deployed shortly, following internal warnings that the threat has evolved from insider disputes to systematic targeting of wealthy individuals and their families. A January memo from France’s organized crime agency SIRASCO, reported by Le Parisien, described roughly 40 crypto kidnappings and hostage‑takings between mid‑2023 and end‑2025, mostly in urban areas around Paris.

Recent cases underline the escalation. In April, GIGN commandos rescued a mother and 10‑year‑old son held for about 20 hours as kidnappers tried to extort “several hundreds of thousands” of euros from the father, a crypto entrepreneur. Earlier this year, a magistrate linked to a Lyon‑based crypto executive and her elderly mother were held for 30 hours in a ransom plot before six suspects were arrested, including a minor.

Industry and security researchers say self‑custody has become a physical risk factor in France’s crypto scene, pushing some executives toward bodyguards and home security checks. TRM Labs and CertiK data cited by outlets such as Forbes show France logged 19 of 72 verified wrench attacks globally in a recent period, more than twice the tally in the United States, with at least 30 documented cases since 2017 and over 20 in 2025 alone.

For a government that has marketed Paris as a crypto and fintech hub under clear rules and MiCA‑aligned licensing, the surge in kidnappings now threatens to become a reputational and capital‑flight problem. As one CryptoSlate report put it, France is “where crypto wealth looks hardest to hold safely in public,” a perception Berger and Nuñez will now have to fight through prevention, rapid‑response policing and closer cooperation with an industry suddenly focused as much on physical safety as on private keys.