Unknown assailants attacked the residence of the head of a Binance division., 2026/02/13 16:24:08

In the suburbs of Paris, in the Val-de-Marne department, armed robbers broke into the apartment of the head of the French division of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The police reported that three masked men were involved in the attack, and the CEO was not present at the residence.

The assailants first invaded the home of a neighbor of the top manager and forced him to reveal the correct door. They then broke into the residence of the Binance France head, searched the rooms, and stole two mobile phones before fleeing the scene of the crime.

A few hours later, the same group attempted a similar attack in another Paris suburb. The police did not specify the exact target or location, only stating that it involved a crypto investor. Authorities established a connection between the two incidents through geolocation analysis of the stolen phones and surveillance camera footage. Police indicated that the suspects were poorly prepared, as they confused the address of the second victim.

As a result, the suspects were apprehended at the Perrache metro station in Lyon while they were trying to board a train. All three men have been taken into custody.

The name of the affected head of Binance France has not been disclosed. There is no information about the leadership of the division on the exchange’s website. In May 2024, it was reported that lawyers Guillaume Meris and Grégory Mille became the new co-owners of Binance France. This occurred shortly after the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) announced that founder and former CEO of Binance Changpeng Zhao could no longer own the company due to allegations made against him by the Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission of the United States.

This incident marks at least the fourth attack on crypto investors and crypto entrepreneurs in France since the beginning of the year. On January 5, three unknown individuals stole a cold crypto wallet from an investor in the town of Manosque, and they have not yet been apprehended. On January 25, three men in Lyon tortured a 74-year-old pensioner and demanded a ransom in cryptocurrency from his son, whom they mistakenly believed to be a significant crypto investor. When the error was revealed, the elderly Frenchman was released. The assailants were later arrested. A few days ago, a group of individuals kidnapped a magistrate and her mother, but the women managed to free themselves after more than a day. The suspects in this case have also been arrested.

Over the past year, the number of attacks on crypto investors has increased by 75%, with the majority of incidents occurring in France: in 2025, there were 19 recorded incidents.