Headline: France indicts 88 people as “wrench attacks” against crypto holders surge
France has indicted at least 88 suspects — including ten minors — in a major crackdown on so-called “wrench attacks,” prosecutors said, as authorities try to dismantle organized networks behind a wave of violent crimes targeting crypto owners.
What happened
- Vanessa Perrée, France’s national prosecutor for organized crime, told reporters the cases stem from 12 investigations being handled by specialized judges at the Paris Judicial Court. Of the 88 people charged, 75 remain in pre-trial detention while police continue to probe the networks and money flows behind the attacks.
- Investigators say several separate probes have been merged after finding repeated links among suspects, pointing to “the existence of structured networks” and prompting efforts to identify ringleaders and trace financial routes.
What a “wrench attack” is
- Wrench attacks use physical threats or violence — from home invasions and kidnappings to extortion and forced wallet access — to coerce victims into transferring crypto assets. Prosecutors highlighted the severe legal consequences because these crimes typically involve abduction, detention and extortion, and because of “the harm caused to individuals.”
Rising trend in France and globally
- French authorities have recorded a sharp rise in such incidents: PNACO tracked 18 cases in 2024, 67 in 2025 and 47 so far in 2026.
- The trend mirrors global signals. Blockchain security firm CertiK reported a 75% increase in physical crypto attacks worldwide in 2025 versus 2024. Casa’s chief security officer Jameson Lopp, who has tracked wrench attacks since 2014, has documented 29 incidents so far this year, including five in April.
- TRM Labs attributes the increase to criminals combining public “wealth signals” from blockchain activity with personal data harvested online, and to misconceptions that crypto transfers are inherently private.
Warnings and possible causes
- Perrée urged crypto holders and their relatives to take precautions, notably avoiding overexposure on social networks that can make individuals easy targets. Security experts echo that public displays of crypto wealth can raise personal risk.
- Telegram founder Pavel Durov suggested one possible driver of the French spike: alleged misuse of crypto investor tax data by a former tax official, a claim investigators are examining as part of their broader inquiries.
What’s next
French investigators say their work is ongoing: identifying attackers, following the money, and breaking up the criminal groups responsible. For users, officials and security firms alike emphasize vigilance — both online and offline — as the threat landscape around physical attacks on crypto owners continues to evolve.
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