Telegram founder Pavel Durov has flagged a sharp rise in physical attacks on crypto holders in France, citing 41 kidnappings in just the first 3.5 months of 2026. He directly attributed the crimes to tax data leaks that gave criminals visibility into who holds significant crypto wealth.
Durov warned that broader government data collection programs could make the problem worse, arguing that centralised databases of financial information create high-value targets for bad actors.
The comments reignite a long-running debate about the trade-off between regulatory transparency and the personal safety of crypto holders — particularly as on-chain wealth becomes easier to identify and correlate with real-world identities.
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Telegram Founder Attributes 41 French Crypto Kidnappings to Tax Leaks
Telegram founder Pavel Durov noted that 41 kidnappings targeting crypto holders occurred in France in the first 3.5 months of 2026. He attributed the crimes to tax data leaks acquired by criminals and warned that expanding government data collection could further exacerbate these risks.
Source: https://t.co/aNBqXVdoE7
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