Key Insights
- The daughter and grandson of Paymium co-founder Pierre Noizat were targeted by a group of masked attackers in a broad daylight ambush in Paris.
- The kidnapping attempt only ended after the woman managed to disarm one of the assailants during a struggle before throwing their weapon away.
- “It’s not just social engineering or SIM swaps anymore,” says crypto-focused attorney Sasha Hodder.
- According to records maintained by Casa CTO Jameson Lopp, so far in 2025, there have been 22 physical crypto-related attacks.
- Better security, smarter communication and more awareness are now as important as knowing how to trade or farm yield.
A recent kidnapping attempt in Paris has made the news again across the crypto community.
This most recent incident has shown beyond a doubt that occurrences of physical attacks on crypto personalities are on the rise.
Here are the details of the attack, as well as the string of similar attacks that have marred 2025 so far.
Brazen Attack in Central Paris
The incident occurred on 13 May in Paris’s 11th arrondissement.
It involved the daughter and grandson of Paymium co-founder Pierre Noizat, both of whom were targeted by a group of masked attackers in a broad daylight ambush.
According to reports from local news outlets, three masked individuals leapt out of a van and attempted to force Noizat’s daughter and her young son into the vehicle.
However, the kidnapping attempt only ended after the woman managed to disarm one of the assailants during a struggle before throwing their weapon away.
The ongoing chaos attracted attention from people nearby, forcing the kidnappers to flee the scene.
The getaway van was later recovered by police, and all three victims were treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.
The French Brigade for the Suppression of Banditry is currently investigating the case, as the assailants are being tracked down.
The Trend of Crypto-Linked Violence
This is not an isolated incident. The Paris attack is at least the sixth such crypto-related crime reported in France this year alone.
January saw another high-profile case involving Ledger co-founder David Balland and his partner, both of whom were abducted from their home.
During the struggle, Balland’s finger was brutally severed in an attempt to extract crypto ransom.
Fortunately, a police operation led to their release, and nine suspects have since been arrested.
Just weeks before the Noizat family was targeted, another case in Paris saw a man whose kidnappers demanded crypto from his wealthy son.
Once again, the victim was mutilated, with a finger cut off during the ordeal before being rescued by law enforcement.
These cases show a chilling trend of violent crypto-related crime against individuals within the industry.
It is also interesting how physical violence, which was once rare in this space, is starting to become a go-to tactic for criminals.
From Online Threats to Physical Danger
Historically, crypto-related crime has mostly been online. Attackers used hacks, phishing, SIM swaps and other forms of digital theft as their go-to.
However, according to experts, those days may be over.
“It’s not just social engineering or SIM swaps anymore,” said crypto-focused attorney Sasha Hodder, who was commenting on an earlier case in which a group of teenagers kidnapped and extorted $4 million from another crypto personality.
In another incident from Brazil, a Spanish businessman was drugged and kidnapped by criminals posing as police officers.
The captors demanded $50 million in crypto and held him for five days.
Another incident from Hong Kong involved a Turkish man who was attacked during a multimillion-euro crypto transaction.
Across the continent in the Philippines, another Chinese-Filipino steel magnate, Anson Que was unfortunately murdered after a $20 million crypto ransom demand:
After $3.5 million had already been paid.
This string of brutal incidents shows that the value of crypto is starting to get recognized around the world by good and bad actors alike.
Criminals are resorting more and more to violent, real-world tactics.
“Wrench Attacks” on the Rise
A GitHub tracker documenting in-person crypto-related crimes maintained by Casa CTO Jameson Lopp has some more disturbing trends to show.
The repository shows that so far in 2025, there have been 22 physical crypto-related attacks.
This is very close to beating the number from previous years, and 2025 is barely halfway in.
For context, there were 32 such incidents in all of 2024 and 24 in the year before that.
These kinds of incidents are increasingly being called “wrench attacks” (which is a term derived from the idea that someone might simply use a wrench to beat your crypto password out of you).
Unfortunately, they often go underreported, which means that the numbers are likely much higher.
Victims often fear retaliation, re-victimization, or public embarrassment, all of which skews the data and reduces the actual number of recorded cases.
Michael Englander, CEO of Polish crypto exchange Plasbit, has criticized members of the crypto community who flaunt their wealth online.
“If you’re in crypto and still flaunting it online, you’re not just stupid. You’re putting your family in danger,” he posted on X.
Is Regulation the Answer?
This trend of crypto wealth becoming a magnet for violent crime has sparked some interesting discussions.
Some have begun to ask whether stronger regulation and KYC could be the answer to this trend.
Yet, others argue that such measures will only push criminals to target those who do comply (because their holdings are now better identified).
So far, as cryptocurrencies become more mainstream and wealth in the sector grows, the threats are likely to follow.
Because of this, the crypto community is now being forced to adapt.
Better security, smarter communication and more awareness are now as important as knowing how to trade or farm yield.
