While the crypto market generates quick fortunes, a major physical threat is emerging in France: “crypto home-jacking”. Faced with organized networks that directly target humans rather than computer protocols, discretion has become an essential security condition.
In brief
- Four hooded men extort €40,000 in crypto from a tied-up family in France.
- A couple near Montpellier, also in France, suffered two targeted attacks in less than six months.
- The national organized crime prosecution has recorded 135 incidents of this type since 2023.
- Criminals substitute physical violence at home for complex computer attacks.
- Rapid enrichment through crypto creates vulnerable targets, imposing absolute confidentiality on one’s assets.
Vendin-le-Vieil: a family taken hostage for €40,000 in crypto
On the night of September 19 to 20, 2026, in Vendin-le-Vieil (Pas-de-Calais) in France, four hooded and gloved men forced the door of a pavilion at 4 a.m. The couple and their two children aged 8 and 12 were tied up with duct tape. Isolated and threatened for three hours, the father was forced to transfer 40,000 euros in crypto under the violence of his captors.
The case demonstrates the modus operandi of these attacks. No flaws technique is exploited, the criminals directly constrain the person who holds the private key of the crypto wallet.
Recurrence and relentlessness: a couple targeted twice in 6 months near Montpellier
Current events also show that the identified targets are exposed to repeated risks. In Saint-Jean-de-Védas near Montpellier, still in France, a couple was targeted twice for their crypto:
- First attack (April 11, 2026): An individual disguised as a delivery man entered the family home armed in the morning, guided by telephone by a remote accomplice. The father defended himself and a shot went off without hurting anyone. The 25-year-old suspect was arrested on April 14 in Marseille.
- Second attempt (September 29, 2026): At 5 a.m., three men scaled the fence on the property. The perimeter alarm going off scared them away before they entered. Three suspects aged 19, 30 and 38 were arrested shortly after by the gendarmerie in a stolen vehicle.
135 cases of crypto home-jacking recorded in France since 2023
These events reflect a clear acceleration of violence targeting crypto investors in France. The National Anti-Organized Crime Prosecutor’s Office (PNACO) has thus drawn up an assessment of 135 kidnappings or kidnappings linked to cryptocurrencies since 2023 (18 cases in 2024, 67 in 2025 and already 47 cases opened in the first four months of 2026).
More than 70 of these kidnappings were recorded in the first eight months of 2026. The most publicized remains the kidnapping of David Balland, co-founder of Ledger, in 2025 with a ransom demand in support. The logic remains the same: directly hit people to bypass digital security. So why are cryptocurrency holders becoming prime targets?
- The speed of gains made on the crypto market;
- Past data leaks;
- The lack of online caution among users who provide valuable information to criminals.
If crypto private keys guarantee ownership of BTC and other assets, privacy and home security constitute the only real defense against physical coercion. In view of the news which is not very encouraging, investors will have to exercise discretion, now more than before. And you, how do you guarantee your security in the face of this increase in kidnapping for cryptocurrencies.
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