France is now number one, but not in a good way. It has become the capital of crypto kidnappings in the world. The latest: A mother and her 11-year-old son were kidnapped in Bourgogne on Monday. Four masked men broke in, tied the father to a chair, beat him, and threatened to mutilate him. Ransom demand: $400,000 in crypto. When the transfer hit a 7-day delay, they took the mother and son as leverage. The kidnappers knew exactly how much he held. Source unclear, but possibly a KYC leak or other government-mandated data collection. Luckily, they were freed by the GIGN on Tuesday morning in a Val-de-Marne hotel. GIGN is doing a great job here, but wouldn't it be better if they didn't have to intervene in the first place? This is not an isolated case. This year alone, France averages one crypto kidnapping every 5 days and accounts for 70% of all physical crypto attacks logged globally. On Jameson Lopp's tracker: 1 case in 2024, 20 in 2025, 19 in the first three months of 2026. Meanwhile, France is working on legislation, amendment 1649 AC bis, that would require every crypto holder to annually declare the market value of their self-custodied wallets above €5,000 to the tax authorities. Essentially, collecting more data that exposes crypto investors to even more risk if it ends up in the wrong hands. The things supposedly in place for our safety are actively endangering people.(Dr. Jan Wüstenfeld)