Suspects allegedly targeted households linked to crypto gains across Marseille, Gardanne and Gignac-la-Nerthe, highlighting the spread of France’s wave of violent attacks on digital-asset holders.
French police arrested four suspects after a string of overnight incidents in and around Marseille that culminated in two women being held against their will while the group allegedly demanded access to digital-asset wallets. Investigators say the suspects first tried to enter a family home in Marseille’s 13th arrondissement around 3 a.m. on June 14, then were implicated in at least two more attacks in Gardanne and Gignac-la-Nerthe the same night before being caught. The Marseille case, reported by La Provence, is described as the first such operation targeting crypto holders in the region and adds to a broader surge of violent crime tied to digital assets in France. Authorities said in April that more than 40 kidnappings or attempted abductions linked to cryptocurrency had been recorded since the start of 2026, while other reports have put the nationwide total at more than 70 attacks this year. Investigators believe some victims were selected because they were known to have made crypto gains, including one family whose son had sold his holdings more than a year earlier. Marseille’s Brigade de Répression du Banditisme is leading the investigation.