CRYPTO TRADER KIDNAPPED, THEN FREED AFTER ABDUCTORS FIND OUT HE’S BROKE

- A 26-year-old French crypto trader and TikTok creator was kidnapped Friday night in Juvisy-sur-Orge, Northern France.

- However, he was released the next day when his captors found he had no funds to pay their ransom.

- The four kidnappers demanded 50,000 euros ($57,000) in cryptocurrency but let him go after seeing his low account balance, according to Europe 1.

- The trader was beaten and forced into a stolen vehicle during the abduction.

- He has since been granted six days of temporary incapacity for work, and the case is under investigation by France’s Organized and Specialized Crime Division.

- This incident is part of a growing trend in France, where kidnappings targeting crypto figures have surged this year.

- One recent case involved an attempted kidnapping of the daughter and grandson of Pierre Noizat, CEO of crypto exchange Paymium.

- In another, a crypto entrepreneur’s father was held captive and mutilated in a 7 million euro ransom plot.

- Police made several arrests connected to these kidnappings, including a key suspect apprehended in Morocco.

- Meanwhile, the Paris prosecutor charged 25 individuals tied to multiple attacks on prominent crypto figures and their families.