‘The wealth is digital, the violence is analog’: How the crypto rich got caught up in a new crime wave

Just weeks earlier, a 60-year-old crypto marketing firm owner was kidnapped by armed men in Paris. They cut off one of his fingers and demanded up to €6 million in ransom. He was rescued in a police raid south of the city.
In January, Ledger co-founder David Balland and his wife were abducted from their Paris home. Criminals mutilated Balland’s hand to force access to his wallets. They demanded €10 million. The couple was rescued after a multi-agency operation involving 200 officers.
These cases share a chilling pattern.
“These digital bearer assets are very, very easy to steal and transport – and very difficult to get back,” said Jameson Lopp, co-founder and chief security officer of digital asset custody firm Casa. “The risk-reward is very different. You’re not robbing a bank or an armoured truck. You’re hitting soft targets with potentially massive payoffs.”
And most crypto holders, Lopp said, are far from protected. “It’s like these people are being their own banks, but they don’t have bank-level security.”
Lopp keeps a public database of violent attacks against crypto holders, and he suspects only a fraction ever get reported. “Maybe a quarter. Maybe a third. Definitely not the majority,” he said.