Four hooded men broke into a family home in Vendin-le-Vieil, in the Pas-de-Calais region of northern France, on September 20 at around 4 a.m. and forced the father to transfer 40,000 euros in cryptocurrency, according to the Béthune public prosecutor's office.
The intruders bound both parents and their two children, aged 8 and 12, with black tape during the assault. A source close to the investigation said the 12-year-old daughter was struck in the face with a car key. After more than three hours inside the house, the men left. The family freed themselves, and firefighters treated all four for shock.
The father is a salaried IT specialist working in the cryptocurrency industry. The attackers demanded his identification details and access codes before forcing him to make the transfer. Police have made no arrests and are still searching for all four suspects.
Prosecutors opened the case on charges of confining several people and extortion by an organized gang. The investigation has been handed to the interdepartmental judicial police of Pas-de-Calais and Nord, alongside France's anti-cybercrime office. Investigators have not publicly stated how the attackers identified the father as a cryptocurrency holder.
Part of a Broader Pattern
The raid follows a series of similar attacks in France. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said in June that the country had recorded 77 kidnappings, confinements, extortions, and attempts tied to the cryptocurrency sector since January.
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis counted 30 publicly known French incidents through mid-2026, compared to 19 in all of 2025. The pace increased from roughly 1.9 attacks a month in 2025 to approximately 4.6 in the first half of 2026.
Chainalysis attributed much of the increase to a 2024 breach in which a Paris-area tax official allegedly stole and sold dossiers on wealthy cryptocurrency holders, including addresses, holdings, and phone numbers.
Home invasions have grown to represent 37% of global incidents by mid-2026, up from 26% in 2023. In France specifically, more than 40% of attacks now target a family member rather than the direct cryptocurrency holder.
Attackers have targeted cryptocurrency executives at various levels. Masked men stormed the building of Binance France president David Prinçay in February, though they left after discovering he was not present.
