Today in crypto, Jean-Didier Berger said at Paris Blockchain Week that France is preparing new steps to protect crypto holders as wrench attacks and kidnappings keep mounting in the country, World Liberty copped wide backlash over its plan to lock up early investor tokens for years, and crypto money is flowing into US state elections as PACs build on their 2024 successes.
French minister says new measures coming after crypto kidnappings
Jean-Didier Berger, minister delegate to the interior minister of France, said authorities are taking measures to protect cryptocurrency investors from the growing threat of crypto kidnappings and wrench attacks in the country.
Speaking at Paris Blockchain Week, Berger said his office has taken “preventative measures” against crypto wrench attacks, including launching a prevention platform that has drawn thousands of sign-ups. He added that he was working with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez on what he described as a more serious plan in the coming weeks.
His comments come days after another reported crypto-linked abduction in France this week, where a mother and her 11-year-old child were reportedly kidnapped in Burgundy on Monday by four suspects who demanded a 400,000 euro ($471,000) ransom from the father, a crypto entrepreneur. Authorities caught the suspects and freed the victims on Tuesday morning, reported news outlet France24, citing the Paris prosecutor’s office.
France has become one of the most prominent centers for so-called wrench attacks, in which victims are threatened or assaulted to force the transfer of digital assets, and the government is now under growing pressure to respond.
World Liberty under fire for token unlock plan
The Trump family’s World Liberty Financial faced widespread backlash over its proposal released on Wednesday that would lock up the tokens purchased by early investors for up to four years, or in some cases, indefinitely.
The plan outlined that early investors would have their World Liberty Financial (WLFI) tokens locked for a further two years before their tokens would be released in batches over the following two years, while tokenholders who did not accept the new unlock schedule would “continue to have their tokens locked indefinitely.”
The proposal saw wide opposition, most notably from World Liberty adviser and its biggest investor, Justin Sun, who called the plan “one of the most absurd governance scams I have ever seen.” Moonrock Capital founder Simon Dedic claimed that WLFI investors “who thought they were sitting on solid profits just got rugged.”
World Liberty Financial did not respond to questions about the backlash. Spokesman David Wachsman told Cointelegraph in an emailed statement that the proposal “was designed to further align all the participants in the WLFI ecosystem for the long run.”
US midterm election mirrors 2024 as crypto PACs move into Ohio races
Another political action committee (PAC) aligned with the cryptocurrency industry announced its endorsement for a candidate in Ohio’s Senate race, signaling a move that could mirror the 2024 US election.
In a Wednesday notice, Sentinel Action Fund, a group that claims to be the “only conservative Super PAC advancing pro-crypto candidates and supporting pro-crypto innovation,” said it would be supporting Republican Jon Husted in this year’s race to represent Ohio in the US Senate.
Husted was appointed by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine in January 2025 to replace JD Vance, who was elected vice president alongside US President Donald Trump in his 2024 election win. He still faces a field of Republican candidates ahead of a May 5 primary in Ohio, where former Senator Sherrod Brown will also face off in the Democratic primary against Ron Kincaid.
Sentinel Action Fund President Jessica Anderson specifically cited Brown as having “stood in the way of pro-innovation policies when it comes to digital assets” in the PAC’s endorsement of Husted.
