France is facing renewed attention over violent crypto extortion after Bitcoin journalist Joe Nakamoto placed the country at roughly 70% of global crypto-related wrench attacks, where criminals use physical threats, kidnapping or torture to force victims to surrender digital assets.
Nakamoto placed the 2026 French tally at 41 crypto-linked kidnappings, or roughly one every two and a half days. The figure has spread quickly because it turns a long-running security concern into a country-specific warning: crypto holders are no longer only defending seed phrases, hardware wallets and exchange accounts from online attackers. In France, the danger has increasingly moved into homes, vehicles, workplaces and family networks.
French authorities have already confirmed a severe escalation. The national organized-crime prosecutor’s office has tracked a sharp rise in crypto-related kidnappings and extortion cases since 2023, with 88 people charged across 12 active cases, including more than 10 minors. Vanessa Perrée, France’s national organized-crime prosecutor, said 75 of those charged were placed in pre-trial detention.
The wider French count was placed at 135 incidents since 2023, including 18 in 2024, 67 in 2025 and 47 already recorded in 2026 at the time of the April update. Nakamoto’s 41-case figure and the official count do not match exactly, but both point to the same underlying trend: France has become one of the most visible centers of physical crypto extortion.
The Sandbox Case Shows How Families Become Targets
The threat is no longer limited to founders, traders or wallet holders themselves. In May, the wife of The Sandbox cofounder Sébastien Borget was targeted in a failed kidnapping attempt in Seine-et-Marne, turning the wider French pattern into a direct family-security case.
The attackers allegedly used a fake delivery approach at the couple’s home before trying to force her into a vehicle. The attempt unfolded at about 8:30 p.m. local time. One suspect allegedly appeared at the property wearing a delivery vest and carrying a package, while masked accomplices entered the courtyard after the gate was opened.
That case sharpened the concern around crypto-linked violence because it showed how attackers can target relatives instead of the public crypto figure. A founder or investor may use multisig, hardware wallets, timelocks and custody controls, but family members can still become pressure points if criminals believe coercion will unlock funds, passwords, seed phrases or account access.
The same pattern has appeared in other French cases involving relatives of crypto entrepreneurs, ransom demands, fake service approaches, burner phones, decoy vehicles and younger recruits pulled into organized plots. The common thread is not sophisticated hacking. It is identification, surveillance, intimidation and the belief that crypto wealth can be forced out quickly.
KYC Data Fears Move Into The Physical World
Nakamoto tied the surge to centralized KYC data risk, especially the danger that leaked customer records can expose names, addresses, phone numbers, balances or crypto-company relationships. That does not mean every French case has been traced to a specific exchange or platform breach. It does mean the attack surface is no longer limited to blockchain activity.
A wrench attack starts with identification. Criminals need to know who owns crypto, where they live, who their relatives are, and whether coercion might produce a large transfer quickly. Public wealth signaling, leaked customer databases, social-media activity, conference visibility, company records and Telegram recruitment networks can all help attackers build target lists.
That makes crypto security a personal-safety issue as much as a wallet-security issue. Multisig, hardware wallets, hidden wallets, timelocks, withdrawal allowlists and custody controls can reduce the chance that one person can move all funds under pressure. They do not remove the danger if criminals believe a victim, spouse, parent or child can be used as leverage.
Crypto Crime Is Moving Beyond The Screen
The French surge fits a broader pattern of crypto crime becoming more physical. A recent UK kidnapping and robbery case showed how attackers forced a victim to access financial accounts before blockchain forensics helped police secure convictions. A separate U.S. case involving an alleged $6.5 million robbery spree showed the same shift toward home invasion, firearms, delivery impersonation and forced access.
France’s scale now makes the issue harder to treat as isolated. The country has a large crypto user base, visible founders, hardware-wallet history, active retail participation and multiple publicized cases involving relatives of high-value targets. That mix creates both real targets and a perception among criminal groups that crypto holders may be easier to pressure than traditional financial institutions.
For exchanges and wallet companies, the pressure is now on data minimization, breach response, customer warnings and security education. For users, the immediate protection layer is operational: avoid public balance signaling, separate personal identity from wallet activity, use custody structures that cannot be emptied under single-person pressure, keep recovery phrases away from the home, and make sure family members understand that attackers may target them rather than a device.
The French cases now sit at the point where crypto privacy, KYC databases, organized crime and physical safety overlap. Prosecutors have charged 88 suspects across 12 cases, investigators are still mapping structured networks, and the failed attack on Borget’s wife shows how quickly crypto wealth can become a family-security risk. In a wrench attack, the private key is not the only target. The person who can move the funds, or pressure someone else to move them, becomes the attack surface.
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