France Logs 90 Violent Crypto Attacks in Seven Months, Interior Ministry Data Shows

Published October 10, 2026, 03:45 PKT. Figures first reported by Cointelegraph from data provided by the French Interior Ministry; analysis from Chainalysis head researcher Eric Jardine; tracker data from security firm Gart.io.

French authorities recorded 90 cases of kidnapping, abduction, extortion, threats and violent theft tied to cryptocurrency in just over seven months, figures the country's Interior Ministry provided to Cointelegraph. The data cover January 1 through mid-August 2026. During the same period, police made 223 arrests, and 126 people were imprisoned between January and July. The tally works out to roughly one new case every two and a half days.

The 90 cases

There is no official year-on-year comparison to show whether the problem suddenly worsened. "We do not have the statistics on these items for 2025, as the recording of events began on Jan. 1, 2026," the ministry told Cointelegraph. What makes the numbers striking is how far they exceed public trackers of physical attacks on crypto holders. Chainalysis counted 30 publicly known violent crypto incidents in France through mid-2026, but noted the real scale was "almost certainly larger." Security firm Gart.io tracked 73 attacks in France in the year to date, putting the country in the global number one spot, ahead of the United States on 66 and the United Kingdom on 27.

The data-leak link

Eric Jardine, head researcher at Chainalysis, told Cointelegraph the surge is "very likely" due to a "significant data breach," because such breaches reveal who holds crypto, where they live, and how to find them. Jardine pointed to a 2024 compromise of the French tax authority, in which a tax official in the Paris area leaked personal, financial and crypto-holding information on French taxpayers, according to Le Monde. Chainalysis records show attacks surging from late November of that year. In January 2026, crypto tax reporting firm Waltio disclosed a breach affecting about 50,000 users, creating more target lists for attackers, Chainalysis said. Bull Bitcoin founder Francis Pouliot has repeatedly challenged the European Union's DAC8 crypto tax-reporting rules in France, which expand reporting and information sharing on crypto users across the bloc. "DAC8 has transformed the concept of Know Your Customer into Kill Your Customer," Pouliot said, calling France the "crypto kidnapping capital of the world."

Relatives in the crosshairs

Globally, relatives and acquaintances accounted for around 25% to 30% of violent crypto incidents by early 2026, according to Chainalysis. In France, the proportion was more than 40%. In May 2026, six men allegedly tried to abduct the wife of The Sandbox co-founder Sebastien Borget from the couple's home in Villenoy, with one attacker posing as a delivery driver to get her to open the gate. In August, a couple in rural France endured three separate break-in attempts after buying a property previously occupied by crypto millionaires, after the previous owners' tax information and address were leaked onto the dark web, France's ici reported. In 2025, the father of a crypto entrepreneur was abducted in Paris and held for two days, with the kidnappers cutting off part of his finger and sending it to his son while demanding $5.6 million in cryptocurrency. Jardine said the targeting of relatives and associates "suggests criminals are doing reconnaissance before they act," whether by monitoring social media, analyzing blockchain data, using leaked information, or receiving tips from insiders.

Treated as organized crime

French authorities are responding by treating the attacks as organized crime, coordinating investigations through JUNALCO, the country's specialized organized-crime jurisdiction. Attacks have spread beyond Paris to Strasbourg, Marseille, Grenoble, Toulouse and Nantes, according to Chainalysis, and of the victims with known residency, 93% were French nationals rather than tourists. Bitcoin security advocate Jameson Lopp's long-running directory of physical attacks has documented 365 cases across 60 countries between 2014 and 2026, with France topping the leaderboard.

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.

Sources

• Cointelegraph, France Is World's Most Dangerous Place For Bitcoiners: 90 Attacks In 7 Months (Oct. 9, 2026), primary source (figures provided by the French Interior Ministry)
• Chainalysis commentary via Cointelegraph, secondary source
• Cryptobreaking, France Logs 90 Bitcoin-Related Attacks in 7 Months (Oct. 9, 2026), secondary source