France has recently become a focal point for violent crimes against cryptocurrency holders. According to Bitcoin journalist Joe Nakamoto, France accounts for approximately 70% of publicly reported crypto “wrench attacks.” These incidents typically involve threats, kidnapping, or home invasions to force victims to surrender their crypto assets, often extending to family members as well.
The number of cases in France continues to rise.
Nakamoto stated that France has recorded 41 kidnapping cases related to crypto assets this year, averaging about one every 2.5 days. Additionally, according to reports, after expanding its investigation in April, French law enforcement has charged 88 suspects in 12 cases.
The report also noted that the number of cases tracked by France’s relevant agency, PNACO, has significantly increased in recent years: 18 cases in 2024, rising to 67 in 2025, and 47 cases so far in 2026. As cases have grown, French authorities are preparing a prevention platform and advancing broader security measures.
KYC data risks are being raised again
Nakamoto points to the large volume of KYC data stored on centralized platforms as one reason for the increase in such cases. He believes that once information such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, and home addresses is leaked, criminals can use it to identify potential targets and convert online data into real-world threats.
The 2020 Ledger customer data breach has been mentioned again. According to reports, this breach involved the personal information of over 270,000 customers worldwide, reigniting debates within the cryptocurrency industry regarding privacy, identity verification, and user security.
Holders are reminded to reduce public exposure.
Nakamoto also noted that some cases may be orchestrated by criminal groups outside France, recruiting young people within France to carry out the crimes. Based on this risk, he advised cryptocurrency holders to reduce the display of their wealth, wallet usage, or any direct exposure of their digital asset holdings on social platforms.
Regarding personal security, the report notes that some custodial services offer tools to freeze funds when users are coerced, and some also set pre-agreed alert words to signal anomalies to the platform. Nakamoto also mentioned that preparing a small "bait wallet" can serve as an emergency response measure, but the more essential approach remains minimizing exposure as much as possible.
Additional information: Jameson Lopp, CEO of Casa, stated in the report that the French case demonstrates how the combination of retained identity information and data breaches can extend risks from online accounts to the physical safety of account holders and their families.