France has charged 88 people — including more than 10 minors — in a sweeping crackdown on organized gangs behind a wave of violent crypto “wrench attacks,” authorities announced Friday. What happened - The National Organized Crime Prosecutor’s Office (PNACO) says the 88 suspects are linked to 12 active judicial investigations handled by specialized magistrates at the Paris Judicial Court. Seventy-five of those charged are in pre-trial detention. - Charges include kidnapping, unlawful confinement, extortion and money laundering, according to Vanessa Perrée, National Prosecutor for Organized Crime at the French Ministry of Justice. She framed the prosecutions as an attempt to dismantle the “structured criminal networks” behind the violence. Why France is in the spotlight - French law enforcement has logged 135 crypto-related incidents since 2023, with 18 in 2024, 67 in 2025 and 47 already in 2026 — figures investigators say reflect highly organized gang activity. - Recent arrests include three men detained over a November 2025 kidnapping in Challes-les-Eaux and three more arrested in connection with a December kidnapping in Dompierre-sur-Mer; all six are in pre-trial detention. Global context and expert warnings - Wrench attacks reached a record 72 incidents worldwide in 2025 (up 75% year-over-year), causing more than $40.9 million in losses. Europe accounted for over 40% of cases, with France (19 recorded attacks) outpacing the U.S. (eight), according to blockchain security firm CertiK. - Jonathan Riss, Blockchain Intelligence Analyst at CertiK, told Decrypt the attacks are often run by masterminds outside the EU who use local middlemen and young perpetrators to carry out kidnappings and robberies. He also pointed to a major data risk: France ranks among the top three countries worldwide for personal data breaches, citing an ANTS leak that exposed the personal data of some 12 million citizens. - Riss added that insider leaks — civil servants selling information for money — and underreporting (victims classifying incidents as ordinary robberies or staying silent out of fear or tax concerns) make the true scale even larger. He noted that not all jurisdictions classify or track crypto coercion the same way, complicating cross-border enforcement. Allegations of insider collusion - The crackdown follows a Telegram post from Telegram founder Pavel Durov alleging a French tax official sold crypto owners’ data to criminals. Durov warned that expanded state demands for user identification and access to private messages increase the risk: “More data => More leaks => More victims.” High-profile attacks that spurred the response - Authorities have pursued a string of brutal, high-profile cases: the kidnapping and mutilation of Ledger co-founder David Balland (final suspect arrested in Spain last month), a home-invasion attempt targeting Binance France’s CEO, the abduction of a magistrate and her mother for ransom, and a Versailles invasion in which attackers posed as police and forced a couple to transfer roughly €900,000 in Bitcoin at knifepoint. - In one recent case, a mother and her 11-year-old son were kidnapped from their Burgundy home in a crypto ransom plot and rescued overnight by elite GIGN officers. Advice from prosecutors - PNACO and Perrée have urged cryptocurrency holders to reduce their social media exposure and be alert for impersonation, as investigators report a spike in phishing calls and emails aimed at crypto users. Bottom line French authorities are treating wrench attacks as organized crime on a national scale, moving aggressively to detain suspects and dismantle networks. But experts warn that cross-border masterminds, data leaks and underreporting mean the threat will likely persist unless policing, data protections and international cooperation improve. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news