A violent home invasion targeting cryptocurrency occurred early Thursday morning in Mont-de-Marsan, a town located in the Landes region of southwestern France. Police reported that three masked men entered the home of a couple in their 60s at approximately 3 am, restraining them with adhesive tape and plastic zip ties while demanding access to digital assets.
Home invasion and assault details
During the break-in, the intruders woke the couple, forcibly tied them, and insisted they hand over their cryptocurrency. When the suspects became frustrated with the husband’s reluctance, one of the attackers struck the 63-year-old man on the back of the head with an adjustable wrench, causing injury.
One of the masked men reportedly used an adjustable wrench to hit the 63-year-old husband after their demands for digital assets were not met to their satisfaction.
Before fleeing the scene, the assailants took a laptop and a mobile phone, both potential sources of access to cryptocurrency holdings, if not properly secured or encrypted.
After escaping, the couple contacted the police, who arrived with firefighters and arranged their transport to the hospital for medical checks. Law enforcement recovered the tools used in the assault, but the three men remain unidentified and at large.
Investigation points to the son as possible target
Investigators suspect the real target may have been the couple’s son, based on findings about his profession in the crypto industry. The son, who reportedly lives at a different location, works in the digital asset sector and is now under police protection.
A laptop or mobile device is rarely the main object in typical burglaries, but in cryptocurrency cases, these devices may hold wallets or private keys. Without access to passphrases or decryption methods, such hardware has limited value for attackers.
This is not an isolated event in the Landes region. In August, another couple in Rion-des-Landes experienced a similar attack, in which they were kidnapped in their home and forced to hand over access to bitcoin. In that case, the husband was later found naked and injured in Solférino, with his wife discovered nearby in a vehicle. Authorities arrested two suspects and transferred the case to the Bordeaux interregional jurisdiction for further investigation.
Mini dictionary: Bordeaux interregional jurisdiction, a specialized department in France that handles complex and serious criminal cases, including organized crime and significant financial crime investigations.
Rising trend of wrench attacks across France
Physical attacks linked to cryptocurrency, often called wrench attacks, have surged in France. In these assaults, criminals use force or threats to compel victims to surrender their digital assets. The method typically involves the use of common tools such as wrenches, hence the name.
French authorities registered 77 cases of kidnapping, extortion, or attempted extortion in the first half of 2026, leading to about 200 arrests nationwide, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez.
Statistics provided by CertiK, a blockchain security firm, show that out of the 52 wrench attacks reported worldwide in the first six months of this year, 33 took place in France. The figures point to a disproportionate concentration of such crimes in the country’s crypto sector.
| Country | Wrench Attacks (Jan–Jun 2026) |
|---|---|
| France | 33 |
| Other countries | 19 |
| Total | 52 |
CertiK attributed this trend to a combination of factors, including the scale of France’s crypto market, the public display of wealth by some holders, and multiple data breaches exposing sensitive personal information on potential targets. Earlier this year, the French tax authority suffered a breach that leaked the data of 678,000 taxpayers, including names, addresses, and income figures.
Despite a rise in prosecutions for these offenses, the frequency of attacks has not diminished. France has earned the unofficial title of “crypto kidnapping capital” due to the persistent wave of such crimes since the start of the year.
