The latest report from Binance reveals that the United States has witnessed the highest number of crypto kidnapping incidents since 2019, despite a recent surge in cases in France.

While Europe still leads in the total number of crypto kidnapping cases, with 59 instances over 6 years, North America follows closely with 48 cases during the same period.

Criminals are now resorting to physical threats to steal digital assets, a new tactic alongside the traditional hacking methods. These attacks are not confined to specific regions, with North America, Europe, and Asia experiencing a rise in physical threats targeting individuals holding or managing digital assets.

In Asia, 62 cases of crypto kidnapping and physical threats have been reported since 2019, mainly concentrated in Southeast Asian countries. France recently encountered six cases, with three happening in 2025 alone, targeting crypto industry figures such as executives, traders, and exchange personnel, as well as their family members and tourists carrying valuable digital credentials.

Noteworthy incidents this year include the abduction of the co-founder of Ledger and his wife in France and an attempted kidnapping of an executive's family members in Paris. In New York, a case involved the arrest of a man for kidnapping and torturing an Italian tourist.

Binance notes a correlation between crypto prices and physical crimes, observing an increase in reported attacks involving physical threats following Bitcoin's peak in value this year. Ransom demands in Bitcoin have become common in these incidents as attackers resort to offline violence and intimidation to access digital funds.