Just days before the attempted kidnapping in Paris, a crypto event organizer in Las Vegas reported that he was abducted, robbed of $4 million in digital assets, and left in the desert by teenage assailants. Two of the criminals are now facing adult charges. These incidents follow the broader trend of physical "wrench attacks" on crypto holders, and there is now an urgent need for better personal security in the crypto space. Meanwhile, Eric Council Jr., who was involved in a 2024 SIM swap hack of the SEC’s X account that temporarily disrupted Bitcoin markets, is now awaiting sentencing.
Crypto Industry Rocked by Foiled Kidnapping in Paris
On May 13, three masked men attacked the daughter and grandson of Pierre Noizat, the co-founder and CEO of French crypto exchange Paymium, as they walked in the 11th district. Accompanied by a male partner, Noizat’s daughter was reportedly assaulted in a bid to force her and her child into a van.
However, she resisted fiercely, and impressively managed to take a gun from one of the attackers and throw it away. The male partner was injured while trying to intervene.
The attack was ultimately foiled by the intervention of passersby, which forced the assailants to flee in the vehicle, which was later found nearby. All three victims sustained injuries and were hospitalized. French media reported that the case is now under investigation by the Brigade for the Suppression of Banditry, a specialized police unit.
Naturally the incident caused alarm in the cryptocurrency community. Michael Englander, CEO of Polish crypto exchange Plasbit, condemned the act and warned people in the industry against publicly flaunting their crypto wealth. He suggested that such behavior can endanger their families.
The attack adds to the now growing list of offline, crypto-linked crimes that raised some serious concerns across the industry. Crypto lawyer Sasha Hodder said that theft tactics are shifting beyond digital hacks to physical violence. Earlier in January, David Balland, co-founder of Ledger, was kidnapped and held overnight until a police raid secured his release.
Jameson Lopp, co-founder of self-custody firm Casa, documented 22 in-person crypto-related attacks in 2025 alone on GitHub. A University of Cambridge study also pointed out that such “wrench attacks”—where victims are coerced into surrendering their crypto—are often underreported, and they typically involve not just organized crime but also acquaintances of the victims.
Overall, it is becoming increasingly clear that there is a very serious need for heightened personal security, both online and off.
Crypto Organizer Abducted and Robbed in Las Vegas
Another disturbing incident involving the kidnapping and robbery of a crypto event organizer recently came to light months after it occurred in Las Vegas. According to local law enforcement and a May 10 report by 8 News Now, three teenagers abducted a man at gunpoint shortly after he returned home from hosting a cryptocurrency-related event in downtown Las Vegas in November. The suspects forced the victim into a vehicle and drove him about an hour outside the city to a remote desert location, where they threatened his life and claimed to have his father in custody.
(Source: 8 News Now)
Under duress, the victim was forced to hand over access credentials to his cryptocurrency wallets and NFT holdings. The assailants made it clear that noncompliance would lead to fatal consequences. At one point, a fourth unidentified individual reportedly gave instructions over a speakerphone during the attack, which suggests that it was a coordinated attack beyond just the three present teens.
After the criminals drained approximately $4 million worth of digital assets from his accounts, the victim was abandoned in the desert. He trekked five miles on foot to reach a gas station, where he contacted a friend for help.
The case is now advancing through the legal system, with two 16-year-olds from Florida facing charges of robbery, kidnapping, and extortion. One is being held on $4 million bail, while the other is under house arrest with electronic monitoring. A third suspect reportedly fled the country. Prosecutors confirmed that the two detained suspects will be tried as adults, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for June.
(Source: 8 News Now)
This incident also adds to a worrying pattern of violent, real-world crimes targeting individuals in the cryptocurrency sector. Just days earlier in Paris, French police rescued the father of a crypto entrepreneur who was kidnapped and held for ransom worth €7 million. Earlier in the year, a UK-based crypto broker escaped an abduction attempt by leaping from a 30-foot balcony to avoid being tortured for €30,000 in crypto.
There is a clear shift in how criminals are pursuing digital assets—not just online, but through increasingly dangerous physical attacks.
SEC Hacker Faces Sentencing
X account hijackings are also fast becoming a major issue for the crypto space. Eric Council Jr., the person who helped orchestrate a hack of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) official X account, is now facing sentencing after his guilty plea to conspiracy charges.
His legal team filed a motion on May 13 requesting that Council receive a sentence of no more than one year and one day in prison, which was a counterproposal to the two-year sentence that was requested by federal prosecutors. The sentencing will be decided by US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson during a hearing that is scheduled for May 16.
The high-profile incident took place in 2024 when Council and his associates gained unauthorized access to the SEC’s X account through a SIM swap attack. Once in control of the account, they posted a fraudulent message falsely claiming that the SEC approved the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The fake post caused a brief but chaotic spike in Bitcoin’s price before markets realized the message was not authentic. The SEC quickly regained control of the account and confirmed that no approval actually took place.
Council initially pleaded not guilty but later changed his plea in February by admitting to one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. According to court documents, he earned approximately $50,000 from similar SIM swap schemes.
His legal counsel argued that the proposed twelve-month sentence would be more than enough to serve justice, deter future misconduct, and uphold respect for the law. They acknowledge that Council’s role, while serious, did not warrant the full two years sought by prosecutors.
On May 8, President Donald Trump announced that Fox News host Jeanine Pirro would be named interim US attorney for the District of Columbia. While unrelated to Council’s case, the announcement could signal a shift in how crypto-related crimes are prosecuted moving forward.
