Binance’s France chief targeted by armed men looking for crypto

David Princay, the president of Binance’s France arm, was targeted by armed robbers on Thursday just hours before the same gang attacked an unnamed crypto entrepreneur at their home.

According to local media, three men broke into Pincay’s Val-de-Marne apartment, eventually fleeing with two mobile phones.

The robbers reportedly tried to continue their spree hours later, this time targeting a home in the commune of Vaucresson that belonged to a crypto entrepreneur.

After gaining access to the house, they beat the entrepreneur with their guns before fleeing.

Police were able to track the stolen phones to this second address and discovered that the attackers had used the same vehicle used in the Princay raid in their other escapades.

The three were subsequently tracked to the city of Lyon, where they were arrested. 

The attacks appear to have been poorly planned as, during the raid on Princay’s home, the robbers had to force other residents living in the same building to point them towards his apartment. 

Also, during the second raid, a woman reportedly overheard the robbers questioning their own directions, saying, “The address isn’t right,” and “Stéphane lives at number 41.”

Since the attacks, Binance CEO Richard Teng has confirmed that the “[French colleague] and his family are safe and working closely with law enforcement.”

Read more: French government gives crypto entrepreneurs priority police line

Binance’s Princay joins list of crypto victims in France

France has become known for crypto-specific robberies in which criminals rush wealthy investors and physically intimidate them into giving up their crypto. 

A French tax agent who passed the details of crypto entrepreneurs and other authoritative individuals to criminal gangs saw her prison appeal rejected last month.

In that same month, another victim was tied up by three masked men who were looking for her partner’s USB stick, which contained access to his cryptocurrency. 

Last year, the alleged ringleader of a series of crypto-related kidnappings in France was arrested in Morocco. They’re suspected of orchestrating the kidnapping of Ledger CEO David Balland.

Read more: French crypto tax firm targeted in ShinyHunters extortion attempt

After months of kidnappings, France’s Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau promised the industry that it would have priority access to emergency police services, amongst other security measures.   

Retailleau said, “These repeated kidnappings of professionals in the crypto sector will be fought with specific tools, both immediate and short-term, to prevent, dissuade and hinder in order to protect the industry.”

Web3 Operational Security researcher Pablo Sabbatella warned crypto investors that they shouldn’t have “direct access” to their funds.

He said, “If you just have a Ledger with millions sitting in it, you are eventually gonna lose it all,” adding that “Multisigs, Shamir, time delays, geographic distribution and other systems will protect your assets.”

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