The $30 million figure includes only successful thefts in which the victim was forced to transfer funds. However, when extortion attempts—in which funds were blocked in some way—are also taken into account, the total amount of losses reached $107 million. Chainalysis also cited statistics from previous years: $316 million in 2024 and $180 million in 2025, according to RBC.
Analysts also emphasize that even these figures may be an underestimate, since the statistics only include reported incidents.
The Reason for the Surge in Attacks
The situation in France drew particular attention from experts. According to Chainalysis, until 2025, only isolated cases of physical violence related to cryptocurrency were recorded in the country. However, last year that number rose to 19, and in the first half of 2026, analysts have already noted 30 well-publicized cases.
They cited a large-scale leak of crypto investors’ personal data as a possible cause of this surge. They pointed to an incident in 2024 when a French tax official in the Paris region was accused of stealing and selling files on wealthy cryptocurrency holders. These documents contained names, addresses, asset values, phone numbers, and tax records.
The seriousness of the situation has also been confirmed by French authorities. The country’s Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nunez, stated that authorities have documented nearly 80 such crimes, noting that “concern over this issue is entirely justified.” And the geographic scope of the attacks has expanded far beyond Paris—incidents have been reported in Strasbourg, Marseille, Grenoble, Toulouse, Nantes, and even in small towns where such incidents had not previously been observed.
Nature of the Attacks
The Chainalysis report also notes a shift in the methods used by attackers. While in 2021, attacks on family members or acquaintances of cryptocurrency owners were virtually nonexistent, by early 2026, their share had risen to 30% worldwide. In France, this figure is even higher—relatives or close friends are targeted in more than 40% of cases.
The nature of the crimes themselves has also changed: the proportion of home invasions rose from 14% in 2025 to 37% in 2026, while kidnappings account for 52%. However, analysts note a caveat: depending on the classification, some of the kidnappings in France could be categorized as home invasions, which would make this category the most common.
The overwhelming majority of victims—namely, 93% in France, 82% in Brazil, and 77% in the U.S.—are local residents, not tourists. According to Chainalysis, this indicates prior reconnaissance and planning rather than the random nature of the crimes.
Another trend is noted: as the number of attacks increases, perpetrators are less likely to obtain funds from victims. By the end of June 2026, only 26% of theft attempts resulted in a payment, compared to 49% in 2025 and 67% in 2024. Chainalysis attributed this to a massive wave of more crude attacks in France, which has supplanted the targeted, planned attacks of previous years.
Movement of Stolen Funds
In addition to statistics on the attacks themselves, experts shared observations on the movement of stolen funds. Chainalysis emphasized that money-laundering methods range from primitive to highly organized: from direct transfers to centralized exchanges to complex routes through decentralized exchanges and cross-chain tools.
Earlier Chainalysis reports indicated that Bitcoin holders suffered the greatest financial losses, although they are less likely to be targeted by targeted theft than holders of other cryptoassets.
