French cops free mother and son after 20-hour crypto kidnap ordeal
Latest in a string of cases that have earned France an unfortunate title
A mother and her ten-year-old son are now free after being kidnapped for around 20 hours while the father was being extorted for hundreds of thousands of euros.
Counter-terrorism officers from the Groupe d'intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale (GIGN) freed the pair from a hotel room in Val-de-Marne at around 06:00 local time on Tuesday morning after they were abducted from their home in Burgundy on April 13.
According to franceinfo, which first reported the incident, GIGN officers recovered the hostages, who were unharmed.
The mother and son were held by a criminal gang that demanded "several hundreds of thousands" of euros from the father, who is reportedly a cryptocurrency entrepreneur.
The father did not pay the ransom, and GIGN officers arriving at the scene arrested at least four suspects. Officials did not identify the individuals involved.
The kidnapping came just three days after a similar incident in Anglet, Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
Local media reported that five masked individuals broke into the villa of another person, described as a business owner involved in cryptocurrency, and held several people hostage for around an hour as they sought information about the business owner's whereabouts.
None of the hostages provided any useful information to the criminals, who gave up and left after stealing some valuable jewelry.
The two cases are the latest in a long line of cryptocurrency-related kidnappings and home invasions, which have led some to describe France as the cryptocurrency kidnapping capital of the world.
In 2026 alone, there have already been at least 19 reported incidents involving violent robbery attempts related to cryptocurrency holders in France, including the two covered in this report, and several more in the preceding years.
One of the more prominent stories from this year came in February after a magistrate, the partner of an executive at a Lyon-based cryptocurrency company, and her elderly mother were kidnapped and held hostage for around 30 hours.
The pair, who sustained injuries while being held captive in a Bourg-lès-Valence garage, were freed after a passerby heard their cries for help and informed the authorities.
Similar cases in France and beyond have involved criminals torturing their hostages, in some cases for weeks, using tools such as chainsaws, wrenches, and Tasers.
Kidnappers infamously cut off a finger of Ledger co-founder David Balland last year in Vierzon while demanding a ransom from another Ledger co-founder.
Many cases involve the kidnapping of children and elderly individuals. ®