France’s crypto kidnapping epidemic: Criminal gangs turn digital wealth into a weapon - BLiTZ - Fears None But God

France faces a disturbing surge in kidnappings, hostage-taking, and violent home invasions as organized criminal networks hunt cryptocurrency fortunes, increasingly targeting ordinary families alongside wealthy executives and influencers.

France is confronting a dangerous new dimension of organized crime: criminals are abandoning the keyboard for the crowbar, replacing digital fraud with physical terror to seize cryptocurrency fortunes.

A father beaten and forced into a car trunk. A magistrate and her mother held hostage for 30 hours. An entire family terrorized overnight by armed intruders demanding digital money. These are not scenes from a crime thriller. They are examples of an escalating wave of cryptocurrency-related violence sweeping across France.

According to France’s National Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime (PNACO), authorities recorded 77 such incidents in 2026, compared with 67 in 2025 and approximately 20 in 2024. The figures reveal a disturbing acceleration in criminal activity targeting people believed to possess digital assets.

The message is unmistakable: cryptocurrency wealth is increasingly attracting criminals willing to use kidnapping, intimidation, and physical violence to get what they want.