In the early morning of January 21, David Balland and his wife were forced to stay at the guns into separate vehicles outside their homes in Méreau, a commune in the luxurious Loire valley, France. The kidnappers targeted balland, the co -founder of the cryptocurrency wallet company LedgerWith the goal of gaining a ransom, a prosecutor declared.
The kidnappers have conveyed their requirements, specific details have not been revealed by the law enforcement agency for the éric Larchevêque, a co -founder of another ledger. To eliminate the entire payment, they cut off one of Balland's fingers. The French government sent more than 200 officers to investigate.
On January 22, officers rescued Balland from a hotel in the neighboring town of Châteauroux. After that, they discovered that his wife tried but otherwise it would not be at all behind a beat truck.
These events are transferred by prosecutor Paris Laurure Bececuau at one Press conference On January 23 and Next report. The government arrested 10 suspicious people involved in the kidnapping, Bececuau declared. For the Viking's torture acts, barbarism and blackmail, she said, those who were arrested faced life in prison if convicted.
The ledger refuses to comment, quoting the ongoing investigation and the need for privacy for Balland. In one X PostThe CEO of Ledger Pascal Gauthier wrote, we were extremely relieved that David and his wife were released.
The terrible kidnapping – took place immediately after a cryptocurrency executive was Organize for ransom In Canada and assassinate The CEO of United Health CEO, has made the cryptocurrency industry soared. To protect themselves, wealthy cryptocurrencies are switching to bodyguards, where they have experienced a series of requirements and sources of knowledge in the field of physical security telling Wired. .
Like any human emotions, fear is an important driving force, the headlines have certainly mobilized a lot of that concern, Mr. Adam Health, a former US executive director of the service service. Physical security. The demand has increased significantly.
Because not all cases of kidnapping or extorting are reported, it is difficult to objectively assess the actual risks for rich characters in cryptocurrencies. When making the fear of kidnapping more harshly, the headlines are beneficial for private security businesses, they themselves are encouraged to talk over the threat.
However, that is the case that those who control a large amount of cryptocurrencies are exposed more Increase violence More than the typical CEO of the nature of the technology: Unlike ordinary currencies, the cryptocurrency is stored in a digital wallet that is only protected by letters and digits. Because cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible, if a bad actor can force someone to hand over their keys, they will have access to not being hindered into the currencies in their wallets. .
It is one of the principles that Crypto is established, your own principles. Not your key, not your cryptocurrency, he said an electronic executive director used to use bodyguard protection, who was hidden for personal safety reasons. This is equivalent to your stuffing (your money) mattress.
Over time, Crypto organizations have taken steps to dilute the risk of homemade, including storage of money in a special wallet that requires many people's signatures for any acting. go out. Sometimes they go so far that the wallet is divided into pieces, each can Stored in a separate high security deck Global. But even elaborate measures only go far in disagreement and trying to blackmail.