France is experiencing wave of crypto assault. One involved an influencer’s father doused with gasoline 

Five people were arrested for allegedly dousing an influencer’s father in gasoline and forcing him into the trunk of a car in exchange for ransom payments in crypto. The attack, whose details first surfaced this week, occurred at the every end of 2024 near the French border with Switzerland. 

The arrests put a spotlight on the uptick of physical attacks on crypto holders, often known as “wrench attacks”, in France. Out of the 24 physical Bitcoin attacks this year, about two-thirds of them have occurred in France, according to a list compiled by Bitcoin owner Jameson Lopp. 

The target of the 2024 attack was the father of an unnamed Dubai-based influencer and crypto entrepreneur, according to DL News and French media publication France 3. Police did not say whether the influencer made the Bitcoin payments that the attackers demanded. 

Investigators made arrests across France, far from the original site of the crime. Among those detained was a 16 year-old at ...