Cryptocurrencies, kidnappings and cut fingers. Organized crime put their eyes on those with “digital” wealth
The wave of brutal aggression directed against investors in cryptocurrencies shows how easy it passes the digital luxury in physical violence. In France, the US and other Western countries, the crime aimed at virtual wallets have become a daily reality. Armed attacks, abductions and mutilations complete the picture of a world in which the technology has escaped long before institutions capable of regulating and defending it, writes The Wall Street Journal.
The attempt to kidnap the daughter of an important French entrepreneur in the field of cryptocurrencies/photo: X
On Tuesday morning, on a quiet street from a luxury Parisian neighborhood, a woman's cries-“Help!” – the passers -by panicked. In a few seconds, three masked individuals tried to kidnap the daughter of an important French entrepreneur in the field of cryptocurrencies, along with her child. Only the prompt reaction of the husband – who interposed between aggressors and family – and the intervention of neighbors have prevented a tragedy.
The failed attempt is only the last episode of an increasingly wider episode of kidnappings, cakes and blackmail aimed at investors in cryptocurrencies. The phenomenon, nicknamed in the jargon of the “Wrench Attack” industry, involves direct physical violence as an extortion method – a brutal contrast to the classic computer risks that so far defined this sector.
“We return to the times when people hid their gold under the mattress. Only now, who has cryptocurrencies becomes target not for hackers, but for gangs organized with weapons and baseball sticks,” says Jameson Lopp, digital security expert.
Increasing attacks, mutilated victims
In the last year, the European and American authorities have registered dozens of documented cases of physical aggression aimed at cryptocurrency owners. Cases in which people were beaten, tied, tortured, and in two situations-their fingers were cut, to force the unlock of the fingerprint digital wallets.
In January, in the center of France, David Balland – one of the co -founders of the Ledger digital wallet company – was kidnapped with his partner. A footage sent to other team members showed how Balland was mutilated: “Fingers: 9/10” wrote, ironically, later on his social media account. The police intervened and saved the couple, but the trauma remains.
In another case, the father of a French Crypto influence was abducted by individuals disguised as Amazon courier. It was filmed with a weapon at the head, and the recording was sent as a blackmail message. Redemption was paid, life has been saved.
Offline technology, offline criminals
In order to protect themselves from hacking, many of the “crypto-rich” have chosen to transfer their assets to physical wallets-pocket devices, but uncertain in front of the gun. Thus, the digital closed in metal boxes, but opened the door of a classic crime: abductions with weapons and raw violence.
In the absence of a global protection system, criminals choose their targets through classic doxxing methods-combine public databases, use information obtained from data leaks (as was the case with Ledger hack, in which the addresses of over 270,000 customers have been published) and follow the “flexions” on social networks.
France: a recurrent target
According to the French Ministry of Interior, at least five kidnappings related to cryptocurrencies have recently taken place in France. Officials suspect that gangs operate after a already familiar model: young people recruited on Telegram or Signal, remotely coordinated by anonymous leaders, often from prisons.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau convened at the end of last week a meeting with Crypto industry leaders to announce security measures. But the distrust of the state's ability to ensure the real protection of citizens increases.
“We live the Mexicanization of France. How many valuable entrepreneurs and people have to leave, disappointed by a state that no longer offers safety?”, Wrote on X éric Lachevêque, another co -founder Ledger.
Hackers, subcontract. Organized, professionalized crime
The criminals targeted by prosecutors are no longer amateurs. One of those accused in the Balland file was already incarcerated for another kidnapping. The attack had been planned from the penitentiary, meticulously coordinated.
In parallel, criminal networks began to contract “land” criminals to implement kidnappings in various countries – from Estonia to Houston, USA, where an influencer Crypto was attacked at night in his own home. Her husband responded with the weapon.
Systemic risk and lack of response
The situation is not just an individual nightmare for those targeted. It becomes a systemic problem in a sector in full expansion, but poorly regulated. Physical security has never been a priority in the world of Crypto, and the authorities, although conscious, seem overwhelmed.
In the absence of clear measures – the anonymization of data from the commercial registers, the stricter regulation of the companies of cryptocurrency storage, the proactive protection of the targeted ones – the phenomenon risks amplifying.
When the digital currency reaches the real life, it turns – into abductions, fear, blood. The cut fingers and redemptions paid in Tether are the new face of a system that has lost its innocence. And the question becomes inevitable: who allows itself, today, to be visible and rich in a world that rewards brutality? Wsj asks.
