We tell how the methods from the 90’s have adapted to the current digital reality.
France suddenly found itself in the center of a new criminal wave, where the target of the attackers is not banks and collectors, but the owners of the cryptocurrency. In recent months, attacks on investors and crypto companies have increased so much that the authorities are already talking about a systemic threat and are strengthening security at specialized events.
Since the beginning of the year in France recorded At least 41 abductions and attacks on cryptocurrency-related homes. On average, such crimes occur every two and a half days. At the recent international blockchain conference in Paris, security forces accompanied important guests with motorcades, and the security of the sites was noticeably strengthened.
Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of France recognized the scale of the problem and said that they are preparing new measures together with the Minister of internal Affairs Laurent Nunes. The prevention platform has already collected thousands of registrations, but the number of attacks continues to grow.
We are talking about the so-called wrench attacks, when criminals do not try to break into the wallet technically, but put pressure on the owner with force, threats and kidnapping. In the case of cryptocurrency, this approach is especially dangerous, because transfers cannot be canceled, and the funds after receiving are quickly translated through different wallets and blockchains, often turning them into stablecoins.
According to CertiK and researcher Jameson Lop, in 2025, 72 such episodes were confirmed worldwide - 75% more than a year earlier. Cases of physical violence grew even faster. Lopp, who has been keeping statistics on such attacks since 2014, believes the real number is higher, as many cases are formalized as ordinary robberies and are not associated with the cryptocurrency.
TRM Labs experts note that criminals are increasingly hunting not for vulnerability in the system, but for a specific person. For training, social networks, public performances, data leaks and observation of everyday routes are used. The risk is also increased by internal leaks. In France, a loud resonance was caused by the case when an employee of the tax service sold confidential data to the attackers.
The range of possible victims has increased markedly. Not only well-known market figures fall under attack, but also middle-level holders, whose assets criminals judge by indirect signs. In January 2025, Ledger co-founder David Balland and his partner were kidnapped in France. During the attack, the kidnappers seriously injured him, after which the police conducted an operation to be released. Similar cases were investigated in the United States and Canada, where the attacks were accompanied by prolonged detention and brutal torture.
The authors of the reports associate the growth of such crimes with two factors. Crypto-assets have risen in price, which means that the extraction of one attack has become larger. At the same time, digital protection of wallets has increased, and for criminal groups, physical pressure is often much easier to hack.
Against this background, experts advise cryptocurrency owners to complicate access to funds through multi-signature, limits on withdrawal and delays of operations so that the attack does not give an instant result.
France suddenly found itself in the center of a new criminal wave, where the target of the attackers is not banks and collectors, but the owners of the cryptocurrency. In recent months, attacks on investors and crypto companies have increased so much that the authorities are already talking about a systemic threat and are strengthening security at specialized events.
Since the beginning of the year in France recorded At least 41 abductions and attacks on cryptocurrency-related homes. On average, such crimes occur every two and a half days. At the recent international blockchain conference in Paris, security forces accompanied important guests with motorcades, and the security of the sites was noticeably strengthened.
Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of France recognized the scale of the problem and said that they are preparing new measures together with the Minister of internal Affairs Laurent Nunes. The prevention platform has already collected thousands of registrations, but the number of attacks continues to grow.
We are talking about the so-called wrench attacks, when criminals do not try to break into the wallet technically, but put pressure on the owner with force, threats and kidnapping. In the case of cryptocurrency, this approach is especially dangerous, because transfers cannot be canceled, and the funds after receiving are quickly translated through different wallets and blockchains, often turning them into stablecoins.
According to CertiK and researcher Jameson Lop, in 2025, 72 such episodes were confirmed worldwide - 75% more than a year earlier. Cases of physical violence grew even faster. Lopp, who has been keeping statistics on such attacks since 2014, believes the real number is higher, as many cases are formalized as ordinary robberies and are not associated with the cryptocurrency.
TRM Labs experts note that criminals are increasingly hunting not for vulnerability in the system, but for a specific person. For training, social networks, public performances, data leaks and observation of everyday routes are used. The risk is also increased by internal leaks. In France, a loud resonance was caused by the case when an employee of the tax service sold confidential data to the attackers.
The range of possible victims has increased markedly. Not only well-known market figures fall under attack, but also middle-level holders, whose assets criminals judge by indirect signs. In January 2025, Ledger co-founder David Balland and his partner were kidnapped in France. During the attack, the kidnappers seriously injured him, after which the police conducted an operation to be released. Similar cases were investigated in the United States and Canada, where the attacks were accompanied by prolonged detention and brutal torture.
The authors of the reports associate the growth of such crimes with two factors. Crypto-assets have risen in price, which means that the extraction of one attack has become larger. At the same time, digital protection of wallets has increased, and for criminal groups, physical pressure is often much easier to hack.
Against this background, experts advise cryptocurrency owners to complicate access to funds through multi-signature, limits on withdrawal and delays of operations so that the attack does not give an instant result.
