A cryptocurrency investor had his hard drive with bitcoins stolen in Paris
Date: 2025-08-12 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: IN WORLD
A daring incident occurred near the Peninsula Hotel in Paris, as a result of which a guest lost significant funds in cryptocurrency. According to French media, five unknown people approached the man and demanded that he pay 400,000 euros (about $466,000). Without receiving consent, the attackers forced him into a car and took him to the Arc de Triomphe area, where they beat and threatened him.
The hotel staff, who witnessed the conflict, immediately called the police. Law enforcement officers quickly arrived at the scene and soon detained all the suspects. They were charged with extortion.
A preliminary investigation revealed a possible connection between the group and one of the city's nightclubs. According to the detainees, the victim allegedly owed 40,000 euros (about $46,600), and they decided to repay the debt by force.
The victim told investigators that during the attack, his iPhone 13 Pro Max and an external hard drive containing bitcoins were seized. He also said that this was not the first conflict with the same people: they had previously threatened him with a weapon. The Paris prosecutor's office continues the investigation, checking the possible involvement of the group in other crimes.
The case is not isolated for the French capital. In recent months, several attacks related to cryptocurrency have occurred in Paris. In May, three men attacked the daughter of the head of one of the crypto platforms in the city center, but her husband managed to intervene and prevent the theft. And in July, a 26-year-old crypto blogger from TikTok became a victim of kidnapping. The criminals held him, demanding 50,000 euros (about $57,000) as a ransom.
Experts note that such crimes often occur due to the high liquidity of digital assets and the difficulty of tracking them. Cryptocurrency wallets, especially in offline storage facilities, can contain millions of euros in equivalent, and their transfer into the hands of criminals is often irreversible. Therefore, cryptocurrency owners are advised to carefully hide the presence of large sums and provide additional physical protection for storage devices.
Parisian authorities, in turn, are considering the possibility of strengthening measures to combat such incidents, including special units to investigate crimes in the field of digital assets. Against the backdrop of the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies in Europe, cases like this become an important reminder of the dangers faced by investors who do not pay due attention to their own security.
