This is reported by Cointelegraph.
The data, provided to this website by the French Ministry of the Interior, covers the period from 1 January to mid-August 2026. The authorities also reported 223 arrests; 126 people were taken into custody between January and July.
These figures mean that a new case arises every two and a half days, although there is no official year-on-year comparison, so it is impossible to tell whether the situation has suddenly worsened: “We do not have statistics on these points for 2025, as the recording of incidents began on 1 January 2026,” the ministry’s statement reads.
The new figures are even more striking, as they significantly exceed the figures from other publicly available trackers of real-world attacks.
Chainalysis counted 30 publicly known cases of violence linked to cryptocurrencies in France by mid-2026, but noted that the scale is “almost certainly greater”. Security firm Gart.io has tracked 73 attacks in France since the start of the year. This puts France in first place — ahead of the US, with 66 real-world attacks, and the UK, with 27.
The rise in the number of physical attacks – so-called ‘spanner attacks’ – on cryptocurrency owners in France points to something more than just a spate of isolated incidents. Data breaches may be the cause.
So why France?
Wrench attacks are by no means a new phenomenon. Leading Bitcoin security expert Jameson Lopp has documented 365 cases across 60 countries between 2014 and 2026 in his continuously updated list of known physical attacks; France tops this ranking.
However, what appears to be new is the speed at which violent crimes linked to cryptocurrencies are spreading across the country. According to Chainalysis, the attacks have spread beyond Paris to include, in particular, Strasbourg, Marseille, Grenoble, Toulouse and Nantes.
This story was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.The translation was also reviewed by the Logos Press editorial team.
Follow our updates
Have information for the newsroom? Share it with Logos-Press
Comments
0No comments yet. You can start the conversation.
Comments are open to readers with a Logos Press account.
Sign in to comment