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Why France has become a hotspot for attacks on cryptocurrency owners
Сryptocurrency
French authorities recorded 90 incidents involving cryptocurrency-related kidnappings, unlawful confinement, extortion, threats, and violent thefts in just over seven months of 2026.
Cointelegraph reports this, calling France the most dangerous place in the world for Bitcoin holders.
The publication obtained data covering the period from January 1 to mid-August from the French Ministry of the Interior. This averages out to one incident every 2.5 days; police detained 223 individuals during this time, with 126 of them remanded in custody between January and July. It is impossible to compare this figure with 2025, as the Ministry only began tracking such cases on January 1, 2026.
This figure is significantly higher than those reported by independent trackers. Chainalysis identified 30 publicly known incidents of violence in France through mid-2026, noting that the actual number is "almost certainly higher." The firm Gart io recorded 73 attacks in France since the start of the year—more than in the US (66) or the UK (27). A database maintained by Bitcoin security specialist Jameson Lopp lists 365 known attacks across 60 countries between 2014 and 2026, with France ranking first.
Attacks have spread beyond Paris, with incidents recorded in Strasbourg, Marseille, Grenoble, Toulouse, and Nantes. Among victims whose place of residence is known, 93% were French nationals, indicating that tourists are not the primary targets. According to Chainalysis, relatives and acquaintances account for approximately 25–30% of such victims globally, whereas in France, that figure exceeds 40%. Eric Jardine, Head of Research at Chainalysis, identifies a "highly probable" major data breach—revealing the identities and home addresses of cryptocurrency holders—as the primary factor. He points to the 2024 compromise of the French tax authority, in which an employee from the Paris region leaked taxpayer information, including data on crypto assets; according to Chainalysis, the number of attacks surged starting in late November of that year. Criminals gained further data following a breach at the crypto tax reporting platform Waltio in January 2026, which affected approximately 50,000 users.
French authorities are investigating the attacks as organized crime through the specialized JUNALCO jurisdiction. Francis Pouliot, founder of the Canadian exchange Bull Bitcoin, also criticizes the EU’s DAC8 tax information exchange rules, arguing that they increase the risk to cryptocurrency holders.