France Records 90 Cryptocurrency-Related Kidnapping and Extortion Cases in First Seven Months

According to data from the French Ministry of the Interior, from January 1 to mid-August 2026, France recorded a total of 90 cases of kidnapping, abduction, extortion, threats, and violent theft related to cryptocurrency, occurring approximately every two and a half days. During the period from January to July, 223 people were arrested, with 126 imprisoned. The Ministry of the Interior noted that the relevant statistics began on January 1, 2026, and therefore there are no year-on-year data for 2025. Eric Jardine, chief researcher at Chainalysis, stated that the surge in cases may be linked to significant data breaches that exposed the identities and addresses of cryptocurrency holders. In 2024, a tax official in the Paris region leaked personal information and cryptocurrency holdings of French taxpayers, leading to a spike in attacks starting in late November of that year. In January 2026, cryptocurrency tax reporting company Waltio disclosed that data of approximately 50,000 users had been leaked. Furthermore, in France, over 40% of victims in such cases are relatives or acquaintances of cryptocurrency holders, higher than the global level of about 25% to 30%.

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