- French-Moroccan suspect arrested in Morocco for crypto kidnappings.
- Badiss Bajjou is linked to violent abductions of crypto tycoons in France.
Badiss Mohamed Amide Bajjou, a 24 year old French-Moroccan man, was arrested in Morocco on June 3, 2025 on suspicion that he had masterminded a series of crypto kidnappings of rich cryptocurrency entrepreneurs in France. This arrest represents a noteworthy advancement in a case that has stirred considerable attention within the crypto community in France and highlighted underlying issues within the industry.
The detention was announced by French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, who praised Morocco for its cooperation in the case. Darmanin said in a post on X: “This arrest is a very good collaboration by our magistrates in their fight against organized crime.” Ledger co-founder David Balland, who was abducted and disfigured in January 2025, is just one example of the brutal abductions that the police have connected to a suspect.
A native of Le Chesnay, west of Paris, Bajjou is said to have organised a string of high profile abductions. Authorities in France are looking into his part in crypto tycoon attacks that extorted huge ransoms from their families. The crimes, however, have alarmed France’s cryptocurrency elite.
Wave of Violent Crypto-Related Crimes
Crypto kidnappings started to see headlines for the first time in January 2025, when a couple David Balland and his wife were missing from their home in Méreau in central France. Kidnappers severed Balland’s finger and the video sent to Ledger of the act was followed up by a demand for ransom. A 48 hour manhunt for the couple ended with 10 suspects arrested after French police rescued them.
In May, another high-profile incident occurred in Paris. Armed assailants took a crack Wednesday at kidnapping the daughter and grandson of Paymium CEO Pierre Noizat during the day. The assault, which was captured on tape, was directed at a family of migrants living in the 11th arrondissement. In the incident, guys wearing masks attacked the family. They were forced to flee, and the family resisted while being helped by a local shop owner who used a fire extinguisher.
On May 1, a crypto entrepreneur’s father was kidnapped from a street in Paris’s 14th district. Police also arrested seven suspects and freed the victim, who was also mutilated. Later, authorities also foiled another kidnapping plot near Nantes, where more than 20 people, including six minors, aged 16 to 23, were taken into custody.
French prosecutors have filed charges against a total of twenty-five individuals in these incidents. A significant number of the suspects are young and were born in France as well as in other countries such as Senegal, Angola, and Russia. According to them, many were lured by the promise of quick money only to get caught in complex criminal schemes.
Security Measures and Industry Response
To address the growing danger, Bruno Retailleau, the minister of the interior, met in May with prominent figures in the bitcoin business. Crypto entrepreneurs will get home-security checks, while police will have emergency access to their premises, the ministry announced.
At the same time, the crypto sector has come under the spotlight after its role in allowing crime to happen. Cryptocurrencies are a haven for illegal transactions compared to traditional banking, for which there is less regulatory oversight, said the Financial Action Task Force. Such occurrences have sparked calls for stricter regulations, with several in the industry saying that new European rules on crypto could aggravate the problem.
France’s cryptocurrency community remains on edge. Eric Larchevêque, co-founder at Ledger, had called for action to “stop the Mexicanization of France” and compared the violence to drug-related crimes in Mexico. Bajjou’s detention and the other arrests add to the hope of squelching the wave of violence.
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