French Crypto Holder Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison After Firing at Attackers During Halloween Kidnapping Attempt

A 23-year-old cryptocurrency holder in Vendée, France, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison after opening fire with a handgun on a group of masked men who attempted to kidnap him on Halloween afternoon. The dramatic confrontation marks the second time the individual has been targeted by violent criminals seeking access to his digital assets, highlighting a rapidly growing wave of targeted crypto-related crime across France.

The incident, which unfolded in broad daylight as families and children celebrated Halloween on the streets, has ignited a fierce legal and public debate regarding self-defense, home security, and the physical vulnerabilities faced by prominent cryptocurrency holders.

Kidnapping Attempt Escalates into Armed Confrontation

According to reports from French media outlets, the sequence of events began on October 31 when the victim, identified in court documents as Ayman R., managed to escape an initial assault by a team of attackers. Desperate for safety, the young man fled directly to his father’s residence located in the Vendée department, hoping to find a secure haven where he could immediately alert law enforcement.

However, the respite was short-lived. Roughly thirty minutes after his arrival, the same crew of assailants tracked him down to the property. Armed and aggressive, the hooded men violently kicked the front door, attempting to forcefully breach the residence.

As the attackers tried to gain entry, Ayman R. and his father engaged in a physical struggle to barricade the door and keep the intruders out. Amidst the mounting panic and chaos, Ayman R. ran upstairs to retrieve a Glock pistol. When one of the assailants began climbing the structure to gain access from an upper level, the crypto holder fired shots from the weapon in an effort to scare off the intruder.

Faced with gunfire, the attackers aborted the break-in and fled the scene on foot, abandoning a mobile phone behind in their haste. The stray bullet fired during the incident ultimately struck a spot just above a garage door, landing mere meters away from children who were trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.

Law enforcement officers and emergency responders later arrived at the scene, where they reportedly had to navigate a tense scuffle with the occupants before gaining entry to the home, securing the premises, and taking individuals into custody. The firearm used in the defense of the property was subsequently recovered by police. Neighbors living nearby later corroborated Ayman R.’s account of the harrowing ordeal, confirming to investigators that they witnessed two hooded men furiously kicking the front door of the residence.

Legal Fallout and the Definition of Self-Defense

Despite being the victim of a violent targeted assault, Ayman R. found himself facing severe legal consequences. On November 4, a court delivered its verdict, sentencing the 23-year-old to 30 months behind bars. In addition to the prison term, the court imposed a 15-year ban on carrying a weapon and slapped him with a five-year geographic restriction prohibiting him from entering the Vendée department.

The prosecution argued that Ayman R. had crossed the legal threshold separating legitimate self-defense from unlawful retaliation. Olivier Dubief, the vice-prosecutor overseeing the case, maintained that the physical threat had subsided by the time the shots were discharged.

"By the time he fired, the gentleman was no longer in danger," Dubief declared during the proceedings, emphasizing that the assailant had already descended from the balcony. "This is an act of revenge, not self-defense."

The defense, however, painted a picture of a terrified young man suffering from the traumatic cumulative effects of prolonged targeting due to his digital wealth. Jean-Baptiste Colombani, the defense attorney representing Ayman R., pointed out that his client had been the target of a prior crypto kidnapping in 2022. During that earlier terrifying ordeal, the victim had been locked inside a safe in Nantes before managing to orchestrate a daring escape. Court records also noted that the man had a prior conviction in 2025 related to involvement in a similar incident.

"My client has cryptocurrency; we know that there are leaks of this data," Colombani pointed out to the court, emphasizing the constant danger digital asset holders face. "Last time, he ended up in a safe in Nantes and was able to escape."

The Rise of ‘Wrench Attacks’ Across France

The case has drawn widespread attention because it underscores a disturbing security trend sweeping across France and other European nations: the rise of violent extortion methods targeting cryptocurrency owners, often colloquially referred to as "wrench attacks."

These crimes typically involve physical assaults, home invasions, and kidnappings designed to coerce victims into transferring their cryptocurrency holdings or revealing private seed phrases under duress. Because blockchain transactions are irreversible and pseudonymous, they have become an attractive target for organized criminal syndicates seeking high-value payouts that cannot easily be frozen or reversed by traditional banking institutions.

Security data highlights the gravity of the problem. French authorities have increasingly sounded the alarm over the surge in physical crimes targeting digital asset investors. By June, law enforcement agencies had already recorded over 70 crypto-related violent crimes across the country, a figure that continues to climb as criminals leverage advanced digital tracking tools, personal data leaks, and social engineering to identify and stalk affluent crypto holders.

As physical security threats against digital asset investors multiply, legal systems across Europe continue to grapple with how to fairly judge individuals who resort to lethal or unauthorized force to protect themselves when traditional law enforcement response times cannot match the immediate peril of a home invasion.