The French government announced on Wednesday that it will meet with cryptocurrency professionals following a series of high-profile kidnappings and attempted abductions targeting crypto entrepreneurs and their families. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau emphasized that France must take measures to protect” individuals in the crypto sector.
Retailleau said he will bring together figures from the French cryptocurrency industry to discuss strategies for preventing further kidnapping-for-ransom incidents. His statement follows a brazen attempt in Paris on Tuesday to abduct the daughter and grandson of a well-known crypto entrepreneur.
I will assemble businesspeople working in cryptocurrencies and we have a few of those in France at the interior ministry to work with them on their security as Retailleau told broadcaster.
Tuesday’s attack took place in broad daylight in the capital’s 11th district. According to police sources, four masked men targeted a couple and their child. All three victims sustained only minor injuries and were taken to the hospital. The woman is the daughter of the CEO and co-founder of Paymium, a French cryptocurrency exchange platform.
This incident follows the January abduction of French crypto executive David Balland and his partner. Balland, co-founder of the crypto firm Ledger, was mutilated during the ordeal his finger was reportedly severed by the kidnappers. Authorities have since detained at least nine suspects, including the alleged ringleader.
In another case in May, kidnappers abducted a man to extort his crypto-millionaire son into paying a ransom. Police later conducted a raid to rescue the victim and arrested seven suspects.
We must jointly take measures to protect them, Retailleau said of cryptocurrency businesspeople and their families. But we will also find the perpetrators wherever they may be—perhaps even abroad.
The Ministry of the Interior has scheduled the meeting for Friday, officials confirmed.