The French minister will meet with the encryption company after encountering a kidnapping attempt.

Source: Cointelegraph Original text: "French Minister to Meet with Crypto Company After Kidnapping Attempt"

The French Minister of the Interior is reportedly planning to meet with cryptocurrency industry figures after a violent kidnapping attempt on the family of an executive at a cryptocurrency exchange in Paris.

According to a report by France 24 on May 14, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has invited cryptocurrency industry figures to meet with him, following a bold attempted kidnapping incident involving the daughter and grandson of Pierre Noizat, co-founder and CEO of the French cryptocurrency exchange Paymium, in Paris.

"I will convene business people working in the cryptocurrency field at the Ministry of the Interior, there are indeed such individuals in France, to study security issues together," Retailleau reportedly said during an interview with Europe 1/CNews.

On May 13, three masked men attacked Noizat's daughter in the 11th arrondissement of Paris while she was walking with a man and her son. The assailants attempted to forcibly drag Noizat's daughter and her son into a white van.

Bystanders stepped in to intervene, with one person brandishing a fire extinguisher to intimidate the attacker and throwing the extinguisher at them as they fled. Local law enforcement is currently investigating the incident, and the vehicle used in the crime was found abandoned nearby on the same day.

Jameson Lopp, a cypherpunk and co-founder of the self-custody company Casa, has created a list on GitHub documenting dozens of offline cryptocurrency robbery incidents, with 22 face-to-face cryptocurrency-related thefts reported so far this year. Many in the cryptocurrency industry emphasize that anonymity is the only effective way to protect holders and their close circles from so-called "$5 wrench attacks."

Lopp's statistical list is likely to underestimate the total number of attacks against cryptocurrency industry practitioners. A study released by the University of Cambridge in September 2024 indicates that these cases, known as "pump-and-dump attacks," are often underreported due to victims' concerns about being victimized again.

The Paris region also faces such security threats. Earlier this month, Paris police successfully rescued the father of a cryptocurrency entrepreneur, who had been held captive for several days in connection with a kidnapping plot involving 7 million euros (7.8 million dollars).

At the beginning of this year, David Balland, the co-founder of the well-known cryptocurrency hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger, was kidnapped at his residence in central France. He was held captive until the evening of January 22, when the police successfully rescued him through a special operation.

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