Father of crypto-millionaire rescued after being held for ransom—and having his finger severed
The unnamed victim was abducted from a street in Paris and held for ransom at a home in Essonne, 35 miles away, the French authorities said in a statement. The kidnappers sent a video of the mutilated victim to his son—who had made his fortune in crypto—demanding millions of euros in ransom, according to CNN. The victim was freed after two days by French police but not before having one of his fingers severed by his assailants, CNN reported.
French police arrested seven people in relation to the abduction, according to the prosecutor's statement. The perpetrators were not identified, but are between the ages of 18 and 30.
This kidnapping follows a similar violent incident in which the cofounder of crypto company Ledger, David Balland, and his wife were abducted in January from central France and held for ransom. After the couple was separated and detained in different locations, the assailants contacted another one of the company's co-founders to demand a ransom in cryptocurrency. The couple was eventually rescued by police, but Balland suffered mutilation to his hand.
Then, in November, the CEO of Canada's largest crypto company WonderFi, Dean Skurka, was kidnapped on the streets of Toronto and held for ransom. After being forced to pay $1 million in Canadian dollars, Skurka was dropped off in a park near Toronto, uninjured.
In recent years, crypto executives and their families have increasingly become targets for these attacks, also known as wrench attacks. Jameson Lopp, a famous early Bitcoiner, has kept track of the growing trend since he was extorted in 2017 by logging publicized crypto-related incidents in a list on GitHub. According to his tally, there were 24 attacks in 2023, 31 attacks in 2024, n and 21 crypto-related attacks in the first five months of this year.
The growing threat of violence against crypto executives and Bitcoin holders has spurred AnchorWatch, a Bitcoin insurance company, to offer a policy that insures a holder's crypto in the event of a wrench attack. While the policy will allow holders to recoup up to $100 million of their stolen crypto, it won't protect holders from being kidnapped or attacked.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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