Paris
CNN
—
French police rescued the father of a cryptocurrency entrepreneur from his kidnappers Saturday night, but found he’d had one of his fingers severed – the latest in a spate of abductions tied to cryptocurrency.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was forced into a van by four men wearing ski masks on a street of Paris Thursday morning. He was held hostage in an Airbnb 12 miles south of the French capital for two days before being rescued.
The kidnappers contacted the victim’s son, sending a video of the mutilated victim and demanding millions of euros in ransom money, according to CNN affiliate BFM TV.
Five people between the ages of 23 and 27 were brought into police custody following the raid, according to the Paris Prosecutor’s office.
The kidnapping shares striking similarities with other recent kidnappings tied to crypto currency in France and surrounding countries.
In January 2025, David Balland, cofounder of the crypto wallet company Ledger, was kidnapped with his wife from their home in central France.
Before the couple was freed by police, the assailants cut off Balland’s finger, sending a video of the severed appendage to his business partner Eric Larchevêque and demanding ransom money.
In December 2024, the wife of crypto investor and influencer Stéphane Winkel was kidnapped from the couple’s home in Belgium. She was rescued after her kidnapper crashed his car in a dramatic police chase, Winkel wrote in a post on X.
It is unclear whether the recent spate of crypto kidnappings are connected or not.
“Obviously there’s at least a link in the modus operandi. Now, whether it’s the same team or not is for the investigators to say.” said internal security expert Guillaume Farde speaking on French television Sunday.
Police have opened an investigation into the latest kidnapping, including for extortion by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy, the Paris Prosecutor’s office told CNN.
