France Sees Surge in Violent Crypto Crimes, With 41 Cases This Year

Kidnappings and extortion targeting wealthy cryptocurrency holders are rising sharply in France, according to an industry analysis. The industry has cited the risk of leaks of centralized know-your-customer, or KYC, data as a key driver.

Wu Blockchain reported on May 24 that crypto analyst Joe Nakamoto said about 70% of crypto-related "wrench attacks" worldwide are occurring in France. A wrench attack is a crime in which victims are physically threatened or kidnapped and forced to transfer assets.

France has recorded 41 crypto-related kidnapping cases so far this year, according to Nakamoto. That amounts to roughly one wrench attack every 2.5 days. He also cited the risk of KYC data leaks at centralized exchanges and service providers as a factor behind the surge in such crimes.