In the southern French city of Alès, a home invasion and extortion case targeting crypto assets recently occurred. A couple was held at gunpoint by two masked assailants for over two hours, during which the attackers demanded cryptocurrency transfers. After neighbors called the police, the assailants fled before law enforcement arrived.
The child was also inside the house at the time of the incident.
According to local media reports, the incident occurred early Saturday morning in a residential area in Alès. Two masked intruders, armed with guns and knives, entered the home, bound the couple, and threatened them continuously in an attempt to force them to hand over their crypto assets.
At the time of the incident, the couple's young child was also inside the home. Police arrived at the scene after being alerted, but the suspect had already fled. The DCOS, France’s Organized and Professional Crime Unit in Nîmes, has taken over the investigation, and no suspects have been apprehended as of the initial report.
Cases related to France have increased significantly this year.
This case is not an isolated incident. France has recently seen a series of ongoing kidnappings, unlawful detentions, extortion attempts, and failed robberies targeting cryptocurrency asset holders and their relatives.
In July this year, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez stated that, as of the end of June, France had recorded 77 cases of kidnapping, detention, or extortion related to crypto assets, surpassing the total of 45 such cases for the entire year of 2025. According to him, some of the masterminds may be located outside France, while the violent acts are often carried out by recruited lower-level operatives.
Another set of public statistics from Chainalysis shows that France recorded 30 publicly disclosed violent crypto cases in the first half of 2026, up from 19 for the entire year of 2025. Due to a narrower scope of measurement, this figure is lower than the data from France’s interior ministry.
The proportion of break-ins has increased.
On-chain analysis firms and security companies have noted that criminal tactics are increasingly shifting toward home invasions, where perpetrators gain access to wallets or force transfers by directly controlling victims.
Chainalysis estimates that, in the first half of 2026, the total value of cryptocurrency assets successfully seized through offline violent means exceeded $30 million. Of the 46 cases recorded, only 12 resulted in payments, yielding a success rate of approximately 26%, down from 49% in 2025 and 67% in 2024.
According to the agency’s statistics, home invasion cases accounted for 37% of publicly reported incidents in the first half of this year, up from 14% in 2025; kidnapping cases accounted for 52%. Family members of victims and individuals associated with cryptocurrency holders made up approximately one-quarter to thirty percent of all publicly reported cases.
CertiK’s data also shows a similar trend. The organization recorded 52 physical attacks on crypto assets in the first half of 2026, a 33.3% year-over-year increase. France accounted for 33 of these incidents, representing 63.5% of globally verified cases.
In the past month, multiple similar cases have occurred in France.
Less than a month ago, a similar case occurred in Lyon, France. Multiple suspects broke into a couple’s home, attempting to obtain a large amount of Bitcoin and other crypto assets. The two residents were subsequently taken from the property; the man was later found injured and naked, while the woman was rescued in another area. Two suspects have already been arrested.
Previously, in the department of Yvelines, suspects impersonating police officers broke into homes, threatened victims with knives, and forced them to transfer approximately 900,000 euros worth of Bitcoin. In another case, a man posing as a delivery driver broke into the home of a French cryptocurrency industry professional, attempting to coerce him into surrendering his private key at gunpoint; he was eventually arrested after the victim resisted and neighbors called the police.