The French interior minister said on Wednesday he would meet with cryptocurrency professionals to discuss how to prevent future kidnapping of ransoms after several such high-profile cases in France.
Bruno Retailleau's invitation comes the second day of the latest attempts to violent kidnapping in the vast daylight of Paris and a series of previous series of such incidents.
“I'm going to assemble the merchants working on cryptocurrencies, and we have some people in France in France to work with their security,” Retailleau told Europe 1/Cnews Broadcaster.
The daughter and grandson of a French cryptocurrency entrepreneur nearly escaped a kidnapping attempt by armed personnel in Paris on Tuesday.
Four masked men attacked a couple and their children in the 11th district of the French capital, police sources told AFP.
The three people escaped due to minor injuries and were taken to the hospital.
The woman is the daughter of the CEO and co-founder of French cryptocurrency exchange platform Paymium.
French cryptocurrency owner David Balland and his partner were on Tuesday's event after abduction in January.
Balland, co-founder of Ledger Crypto, cut his finger off by the kidnapper.
At least nine suspects have been detained since then, including the so-called mastermind.
In May, the attackers kidnapped a man, forcing his cryptocurrency multimillionaire son to pay the ransom. Police arrested seven people after a raid was released.
“We must work together to protect them,” Retailleau said of cryptocurrency merchants and their families on Wednesday.
“But we will also find that the perpetrators are no matter where they are, even abroad,” he said.
Officials said the Interior Ministry meeting is scheduled for Friday.
MCA/JH/AS/LTH
