France: Crypto Trader Kidnapped & Tortured in Brutal Ledger Wallet Heist

Dark side of decentralization rears its head as a French bitcoin holder becomes the latest victim of crypto-related violence.

Hardware wallets won't save you from hard criminals

Paris police confirmed a trader was abducted at gunpoint this week—the attackers demanding access to his Ledger cold wallet. When he resisted, the torture began.

The new bank robbery

Gone are the days of ski masks and getaway cars. Today's thieves bypass traditional security by going straight for the seed phrase—with pliers and blowtorches if necessary.

Regulators shrug while crypto bleeds

Another case filed under 'decentralized crime'—where authorities can track the stolen coins on-chain but won't lift a finger to recover them. But hey, at least the tax man still wants his cut.

In Brief

• A 23-year-old crypto trader kidnapped and held for his Ledger wallet in Paris.
• The well-informed attacker demands 5,000 euros in cash and the private key.
• It is the 10th crypto attack in France this year according to Jameson Lopp, security expert.

Crypto: Predators Strike with Open Faces

Even though the alleged mastermind behind crypto-related kidnappings in France has been arrested, the criminal mechanism does not seem to want to stop. Here is another story: it is 10 a.m. on Tuesday. A young couple hits the road for some shopping.A few minutes pass. Nothing. Silence. Then a message: an alleged professional emergency. She comes home, worried. Her phone vibrates.. A stranger orders coldly:. And quickly. The man is informed, precise. He knows what he wants. It is not a request: it is an ultimatum.

According to a police source quoted in Le Parisien, “violence was used to make him talk“. The attacker was not alone:. A third person retrieves the bag. The young man is, with no knowledge of whether the key’s contents were emptied.

This scenario is not an exception: it is. They are called “wrench attacks”: those where no password can resist a wrench or a punch. Jameson Lopp, recognized expert and co-founder of Casa, claims to have recorded.

France: A Worrying Surge of Attacks

This tragedy is only. Since January,for kidnappings linked to crypto in the Paris region. And the profiles of the victims are changing.

After, whose daughter and grandson were almost kidnapped, it is now, who was attacked at his home. The crypto-rich no longer need to expose themselves: sometimes, a simple mention on social media is enough to attract attention.

Key data to remember:

• 32 crypto-related assaults recorded worldwide in 2025;
• 10 in France, representing a third of global cases;
• 25 people indicted in connection with these acts;
• 6 minors involved, often used as executors;
• 232 attacks since 2014 according to Jameson Lopp.

For Éric Larchevêque, founder of Ledger:

These issues go beyond crypto assets. They concern all entrepreneurs.

This is no longer just a digital risk, but. The criminals no longer hide. They organize. They prowl.

Minister Bruno Retailleau had promised meetings with sector leaders to “secure the ecosystem“. Arrests have indeed been made, as shown by the latest operations reported in the press. Yet, on the ground, nothing changes. The attackers continue to prowl, methodical, indifferent to “continuous” arrests. Promises follow one another, as do signatures. But fear signs nothing. It settles in. Behind the closed doors of ministries, security is written in invisible ink, while on the streets, it is paid for in cash — sometimes at the price of a Ledger key.

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