It happened again. On the evening of January 9th, a residential home in Manosque, France, was robbed by three masked men—who threatened a woman with a gun, stole a USB drive containing her partner's cryptocurrency data, and then fled. Although the victim was unharmed and managed to escape and report the incident within minutes, this event once again rings alarm bells.

According to the French newspaper Le Parisien, the robbery took place in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department. The attackers not only threatened with guns but also physically assaulted the victim. Local police have filed a case, and the investigation is now handled by the local criminal investigation department and the regional police bureau.

This is not an isolated incident. Jameson Lopp, CTO of security company Casa, has compiled data from public databases showing over 70 violent attacks involving cryptocurrencies worldwide. And France? It has already become a major hotspot for such crimes in Europe, with more than 14 related cases.

Why is France particularly prone to such incidents? Cybercrime consultant David Sehyeon provides an answer: France's baseline level of criminal activity is relatively high, combined with the fact that entrepreneurs, traders, and public figures hold conspicuous amounts of cryptocurrency wealth. Plus, the rapid popularization of digital asset knowledge locally. These three factors together create an ideal environment for speculative and organized cryptocurrency crimes. In other words, France is becoming a paradise for cryptocurrency crime.