Enlèvements 3.0 : Le nouveau business du crime en France.

The world of crypto-money is increasingly targeted by criminals, leading to a climate of paranoia among crypto actors in France since 2024. The threat of physical aggression, kidnapping, and violent home invasions linked to crypto assets has become a stark reality. Cédric, an individual with extensive experience in the army, police, and protection, highlights the gravity of the situation, noting a shift in major banditry from attacking banks to targeting families. The methods employed by these criminals are described as shocking and akin to war tactics, previously uncommon in France but starting to appear in the United States. Kidnapping has become a lucrative option for criminals, offering between 100,000 and 1 million euros compared to smaller sums from other crimes. One incident began in Forest, Belgium, where an entrepreneur, a rare NFT defender, was surveyed. Unable to breach his security, the criminals kidnapped his daughter from their home. This led to a cross-border pursuit to Bruges, where the family's caravan was destroyed. For Cédric, this was an alarm signal, indicating a significant change in criminal targets. Another harrowing event involved an influencer being targeted. Two armed, masked men entered an apartment, kidnapping a couple. They used the couple to demand a ransom from their son, a famous influencer. The father was subjected to psychological torture, with criminals threatening to set him on fire while on the phone with his son. The police intervened at a service station near Le Mans, discovering the victim in the trunk, beaten and doused in gasoline, but alive. This marked the emergence of unprecedented psychological torture, leveraging fear to extract money. The investigation into how criminals locate their victims often reveals systemic failures, including data leaks from platforms, corruption of tax agents, and social media indiscretions. Cédric emphasizes the "uncle factor," where information about crypto wealth is inadvertently spread by family members or acquaintances. He advises people to be discreet about their crypto holdings. In January 2025, David Ballant, co-founder of Ledger, was attacked at his home. He and his companion endured 48 hours of terror, during which Ballant was mutilated, losing a finger, to force him to provide access codes. The criminals demanded 10 million euros in crypto-currencies. This event highlighted a "graduation in horror," with barbaric methods replacing traditional hacking. Another incident in Paris involved the daytime kidnapping of an entrepreneur's father. Professional tactics were used, and the victim was held for 58 hours, during which he was mutilated to prove the kidnappers' determination. The police, specifically the BRI, arrested seven suspects, but the trauma for the victim was definitive. The use of finger-cutting as a method is likened to practices of Mexican gangs, indicating a "Mexicanization" of crime in France. Cédric describes this as a complex violence aimed at terrorizing the industry for quick gains. The French justice system is criticized for its leniency, with judges often prioritizing the family situation of criminals over the suffering of victims, leading to light sentences that fail to deter further crime. In the Ballant case, a 1 million dollar ransom was paid, but the kidnappers made a crucial error by demanding stable coins USDT. The gendarmerie, in coordination with Tether, blacklisted the criminals' portfolio, rendering the funds visible but impossible to transfer. Oslo, an expert, explains how blockchain analysis can trace transactions and identify the use of "mixers" to obscure the origin and destination of funds. While crypto's genesis aimed for financial autonomy, mixers are now primarily used for money laundering. Authorities like Tether, often in collaboration with agencies like the FBI, can block funds in severe cases like kidnapping. For individuals seeking to secure their crypto, cold wallets (hardware wallets like Ledger, Trezor, OneKey) with multi-signature options are recommended as the most secure. Reputable exchanges like Kraken, which boasts a strong security architecture with over 95% of funds in geographically distributed cold storage, are also suggested. May 2025 saw an amateurish kidnapping attempt in Paris, where the daughter of a premium member was attacked in the street. The assault was thwarted by an armed individual using a fire extinguisher. Cédric views these amateur criminals as more dangerous due to their unpredictability and lack of limits when panicked, often having little to lose. Despite these challenges, law enforcement is organizing a response. In May 2025, the BRB neutralized ten masked men in the Nantes region just before an assault. Similarly, a mother and son trader were saved in Normandy due to a GPS tracker in their car. Elite units like the BRB and GIGN now collaborate with a permanent crisis cell to infiltrate recruitment networks, track weak signals on the darknet, and monitor targets before attacks. The debate over arming threatened entrepreneurs is ongoing. Eric Larchevêque advocates for the right to carry Category D arms for self-protection, a proposition that divides opinion. Cédric, however, argues against personal firearm ownership, citing the lack of training and the potential for unintended consequences. He proposes alternatives like the "Fortress" system, which includes sound defense systems to deter intruders without lethal force. This system also offers rapid response coordination with police or gendarmerie, armored vehicles, and cyber security services to identify and hide personal information online. In a victory, a suspected mastermind behind a series of crypto-related kidnappings in France was arrested in Morocco at the end of 2025. However, Cédric warns that this is merely one battle, as new networks emerge, drawn by the promise of undetectable millions. He asserts that his team is actively hunting these criminals and is prepared to go to extreme lengths to protect their clients. By early 2026, dozens of new extortion attempts had already occurred, fueled by massive data breaches from private platforms and corruption within tax files. Criminals now possess precise lists of targets with names and addresses. The rise of crypto has redefined financial freedom and, consequently, security. The current situation is seen not as a defeat but a mutation, calling for total sovereignty, protecting one's code, family, and future through vigilance and discretion.