Since the beginning of the year, there has been an unprecedented increase in violent attacks and kidnappings targeting players in the cryptocurrency sector. Faced with this critical situation, the government wants to respond by allowing business leaders to hide their addresses.
France: a decree to protect crypto entrepreneurs from kidnappings
For several months now, the safety of entrepreneurs in the cryptocurrency sector has been a priority. Increasingly violent kidnappings and abductions have been carried out against them with the aim of demanding ransoms.
France has quickly been singled out as a particularly dangerous destination in this regard, considering that more than a quarter of such attacks have taken place on its territory since the beginning of the year. It was therefore imperative to take action.
This is why Congressman Paul Midy introduced a bill last June to allow crypto entrepreneurs—and others—to withhold their personal addresses when publishing official documents related to their businesses.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has just announced that this decree will come into effect on Sunday, August 24.
It’s now a done deal: following my commitment and at the suggestion of my friend Olivia Grégoire, a decree was published this morning, issued with Eric Lombard and Véronique Lowagie, allowing the personal addresses of executives to be concealed in the trade and companies register in order to better protect their privacy and thus guarantee their safety.
Gérald Darmanin
It’s now a done deal: following my commitment and at the suggestion of my friend @oliviagregoire, a decree was published this morning, taken with @Eric_R_Lombard and @VeroLouwagie, allowing the personal addresses of executives to be hidden from the commercial register and…
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) August 24, 2025
Hide the addresses of company executives
This bill was initiated by Olivia Grégoire, Minister Delegate for Business, Tourism, and Consumer Affairs, when this wave of kidnappings hit the cryptocurrency sector. The bill was sponsored by the Minister of Justice and his colleagues Éric Lombard, Minister of the Economy, Finance, and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, and Véronique Lowagie, Minister Delegate for Trade, Crafts, SMEs, and the Social and Solidarity Economy.
In practice, company directors can now request “the concealment of the personal addresses of natural persons who are directors and partners with indefinite liability for legal entities listed in the trade and companies register.” This is good news, as it guarantees their security.
This operation will benefit from a one-stop shop to simplify a procedure that can sometimes involve deleting the relevant data from numerous websites. The aim is to prevent unlimited access to this sensitive information with a single click.
In this context, the French justice system recently carried out a crackdown by dismantling a gang that had been particularly active in this area since 2023, whose alleged mastermind was operating from Morocco. This is good news, but it does not rule out taking other upstream measures to prevent criminals from having an easy time of it.
