Armed men try to kidnap crypto exec’s daughter, grandson in Paris

Armed assailants attempted to abduct the daughter and grandson of French cryptocurrency executive Pierre Noizat in Paris on Tuesday, but the two managed to escape unharmed, according to police reports.

Police sources reported to AFP that four masked assailants assaulted a family—two adults and a child—in Paris’s 11th district. The assailants caused minor injuries, and the victims went to a medical facility.

According to the video footage, three masked men exited a van and tried to force the woman and her child inside, while her partner, who intervened, was brutally beaten.

According to police, the woman struggled by grabbing a handgun from one of the attackers and hurling it away. The cries of the victims eventually caught the attention of people nearby.

After the attack, the suspects fled in a van, which police located shortly afterward in the vicinity.

Le Parisien stated that the Brigade for the Suppression of Banditry, a dedicated task force operating under the Ministry of the Interior, is now probing the daylight kidnap attempt.

Plasbit’s co-founder and CEO, Michael Englander, remarked that this situation ought to prompt the crypto industry to reassess its approach to safety and risk.

“If you’re in crypto and still flaunting it online, you’re not just stupid, you’re putting your family in danger,” he said in a May 13 post to X.

Tuesday’s attempted abduction occurred just months after French crypto leader David Balland and his partner were kidnapped in January.

The kidnappers chopped off Balland’s finger during his ordeal. Prosecutors reported that the kidnappers demanded a large amount in cryptocurrency as ransom, but they withheld information on the exact sum or whether the ransom was paid.

Since the incident, police have apprehended nine suspects, including the person believed to be the mastermind behind the crime.

In May, attackers kidnapped a man seeking a ransom from his crypto-millionaire son. Police launched a raid to free the victim and took seven suspects into custody.

Recent kidnapping attempts have reportedly targeted crypto figures and their relatives in Spain and Belgium as well.

Jameson Lopp, a well-known cypherpunk and Casa co-founder, has compiled a GitHub list that tracks offline crypto robberies, which includes 22 cases of in-person theft so far in 2025.