France Charges 88 Over 12 Crypto Wrench Attacks, Including Minors

French law enforcement has charged 88 people in connection with 12 physical attacks on cryptocurrency holders. These are so-called wrench attacks, where criminals use physical violence or threats to force victims to transfer digital assets. Minors are among those charged, and investigators found that some suspects took part in more than one attack. CoinTelegraph and Decrypt reported the story on April 27, 2026.

What Is a Wrench Attack and Why Has France Become a Hotspot?

The term "wrench attack" emerged in the crypto community in the early 2020s. The logic is straightforward. Instead of breaking software security, attackers go after the person who holds the keys. A typical scheme follows several stages. First, the target is studied online. This covers public wallet addresses, social media posts, and media coverage of large deals. Physical surveillance follows. The attack itself happens in an isolated location or through a home invasion. The victim is forced to open the wallet and confirm a transfer.

France has become the primary hotspot for this type of crime in Europe. At least 41 such incidents were recorded there in 2026 alone. A high-profile wave of kidnappings in 2025 targeting family members of known crypto entrepreneurs showed that criminals are systematically monitoring public asset holders and are prepared to use violence. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with large balances have become attractive targets because transfers are nearly impossible to block or reverse once confirmed.

Blockchain transparency adds to the risk. A public wallet address lets anyone check the balance. If a holder has linked that address to a real identity through social media or press coverage, they become a target for anyone monitoring large wallets.

What We Know About the Investigation: 88 People, 12 Attacks

French investigators focused on 12 specific attacks. The 88 charges work out to an average of seven suspects per attack, showing a high level of organization in each case with clear division of roles. Investigators found that some of the 88 are connected to multiple incidents at the same time.

Repeat offenders are a typical feature of criminal networks of this type. A group that pulls off one attack without being caught tends to move on to the next. French authorities have not released details on the total amounts stolen from victims or on the methods used to identify the suspects.

Why Were Minors Involved?

Recruiting minors into criminal schemes is a known tactic of organized criminal groups. Under French criminal law, those under 18 face substantially lighter consequences than adults. This lowers the risk for the network: a young participant who is caught receives a far more lenient sentence.

Minors are typically assigned roles that are harder to prosecute directly. These include surveillance of targets, collecting open-source data, and support tasks. Prosecutors are reportedly considering whether to classify the full group's activity as organized crime. That qualification would allow tougher sanctions for all participants regardless of their specific role or age.

What Has France Done After 41 Attacks in 2026?

The French government responded to the surge in attacks in April 2026. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau announced stronger protection for high-profile cryptocurrency holders and new limits on public disclosure of digital asset holdings. The 88 charges now filed are the first concrete outcome of that policy shift.

For personal protection, security experts point to hardware wallets: they store private keys offline and cannot confirm a transaction without physical access to the device and a PIN. Even if attackers seize the device under duress, it is useless without the PIN and the seed phrase stored separately.

• Do not share portfolio size publicly: posts about holdings and public wallet addresses flag you as a potential target
• Use a hardware wallet with a PIN and keep the seed phrase stored in a separate, secure location
• For significant holdings, consider multisig: a transaction requires several independent keys
• Avoid linking public wallet addresses to your real name on social media or in media coverage

What This Means for Crypto Holders

The French wave of charges is the largest coordinated response to physical crypto crime in Europe in 2026. Moving from reacting to individual incidents to prosecuting criminal networks as a whole marks a genuine shift in how police are tackling the problem.

If the trial results in real sentences for most of the 88 suspects, the French model may become a reference point for other EU countries dealing with the same trend. The practical message for crypto holders, wherever they are, stays the same: the size of your portfolio is better left invisible. The blockchain is public record - everything else depends on how carefully you manage your own exposure.