French minister summons crypto bosses after brutal kidnapping attempt

France’s interior minister has invited crypto leaders to discuss their security after several attempted and carried out kidnappings of people linked to the industry this year.

The meeting follows the latest such incident on Tuesday when armed attackers tried to abduct the daughter and grandson of a crypto entrepreneur in the French capital.

Minister calls emergency meeting over kidnapping attacks on crypto people

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau will meet with cryptocurrency professionals later this week to talk about how to prevent future kidnappings after a string of attacks against relatives of persons dealing with crypto assets in France.

Retailleau announced his decision to meet industry leaders a day after a brutal attempt to snatch a woman and her son from a street in Paris. The hit in the capital city’s 11th district, carried out by four masked men in broad daylight, was caught on camera.

The victims, the daughter and the grandson of a crypto businessman, narrowly escaped the kidnapping after the woman and her partner resisted before passersby intervened to prevent them from being pushed into a van. All three were later hospitalized with minor injuries.

“I will assemble businesspeople working in cryptocurrencies, and we have a few of those in France, at the interior ministry to work with them on their security and so that they become aware of the risks,” Retailleau told the French broadcaster Europe 1-CNews, and was also quoted by France 24 and AFP.

France is dealing with a string of crypto-related kidnappings

The couple and the child targeted by kidnappers this week are relatives of the co-founder and CEO of French cryptocurrency exchange platform Paymium, media reports revealed. The attempt to abduct the woman with her child and spouse is not the first of this kind since the beginning of the year.

French crypto entrepreneur David Balland, co-founder of the crypto wallet firm Ledger, was kidnapped from his home in central France in January, together with his partner. Balland had a finger cut off by his attackers, who demanded a “large ransom in cryptocurrency,” according to a statement issued by the prosecutor’s office in Paris.

The two were later freed with the help of GIGN, France’s elite police unit. Law enforcement authorities have since detained at least nine suspects in this case, including the alleged leader of the kidnapping group.

Earlier this month, criminals kidnapped the father of another crypto entrepreneur, demanding up to €7 million in ransom. Police freed the man in a raid that resulted in the arrest of seven people. The victim’s son has been described by prosecutors as a crypto millionaire.

Bruno Retailleau praised the work of French investigators who, in his words, “did an exceptional job in freeing this man and arresting his captors.”

Speaking about the security of crypto bosses and their families on Wednesday, the interior minister emphasized the need for joint measures to protect them.

“We will also find the perpetrators wherever they may be, perhaps even abroad,” he added after scheduling the meeting with the crypto businessmen for Friday.

The current series of crypto kidnappings comes amid a rise in organized crime in France that the government in Paris has been struggling to control, French news outlets note, providing examples of other brazen attacks unrelated to cryptocurrencies.

Cryptopolitan Academy: Tired of market swings? Learn how DeFi can help you build steady passive income. Register Now