TL;DR:
- Since January 1, 2026, law enforcement authorities in France have recorded a total of 41 kidnappings or attempted abductions linked to cryptocurrencies.
- Two minor suspects remain under police custody, while four other alleged accomplices remain at large.
- The National Directorate of the Judicial Police documents 135 similar incidents on French territory since 2023.
They attempted to kidnap the wife of Sébastien Borget, co-founder and chief operating officer of the metaverse platform The Sandbox; the incident occurred at their residence located in Villenoy, France, this week and immediately mobilized local security forces.
According to the report by the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD), a fake delivery driver managed to get the victim to open the property’s main gate. Then, five hooded accomplices entered the inner courtyard to drag her by force toward a vehicle. The victim screamed so loudly that she alerted community neighbors, who intervened directly and forced the attackers to flee.
During the operational deployment following the assault, officers from the Meaux Anti-Crime Brigade intercepted a private ride-hail vehicle. Traveling in said vehicle were two of the alleged attackers, identified as Mateo V. and Walid H., born in 2010 and 2009 respectively. Official reports indicate that both carried a fake handgun, plastic zip-tie restraints, and balaclavas at the time of their capture. The Central Security Directorate assumed control of the investigation to locate the four remaining suspects.
The rise of crypto-focused violence in France
The police report indicates that the attack is directly linked to the family’s digital asset wealth. Borget, 40, oversees the development of a virtual ecosystem based on the Ethereum network that utilizes utility tokens and digital collectibles of high commercial value.
Data provided by the Judicial Police of France suggest that the nation projects itself as a critical epicenter for this type of crime in Europe, concentrating nearly 80% of the cases reported in the region. Press reports detail that in April 2026, a group of armed criminals forced another family linked to the tech industry to transfer approximately $820,000 in digital assets. Those records coincide with a massive investigation developed that same month, which led to the filing of criminal charges against 88 people on French territory for crimes of residential assault and crypto extortions.
Previously, executives of local firms such as Paymium and the French division of Binance also figured as targets of organized gangs. Given the persistence of this criminal trend, Minister Delegate Jean-Didier Berger announced the creation of a state prevention platform during the sessions of the Paris Blockchain Week 2026. The Central Security Directorate expects to publish new organized crime balance sheets at the close of the next quarter.
