Crypto execs hiring private security after high-profile kidnappings, report

Wealthy crypto executives are reportedly scrambling to hire security services after Ledger CEO David Balland was abducted and mutilated over a €10 million ($10.5 million) crypto ransom.

That’s according to a report from WIRED which spoke to Adam Healy, a former marine running a crypto-cybersecurity company. Healy claims that demand for these services has grown “considerably.”

“Like any human emotion, fear is a significant motivator… The headlines certainly mobilize a lot of that concern,” he said.

The report also highlights that hiring bodyguards today is less about flashy displays of wealth. Westminster Security’s Managing Director John Moore says that in 2013, after bitcoin’s surge, excessive security was performative. Now he claims, “The Bitcoin Boys have grown up. They now go for low-key, covert protection.”

Read more: Pakistan police officer remanded over USDT theft and kidnapping

WIRED notes that while headlines on kidnappings benefit these security firms, the firms also possess an incentive to overstate the threats. However, the kidnapping of Balland and his wife was far from overstated.

The pair were kidnapped in France and held hostage by an armed gang. Balland’s finger was cut off and his captors demanded a ransom from Balland’s business partner, sending them a video of his damaged finger.

A crypto executive who had previously employed bodyguard protection spoke to WIRED anonymously and said, “There are many more layers of security now than five or 10 years ago,” adding, “ but at the end of the day… gun to your head, the [kidnapper] has all your money.”

Indeed, there are various methods to strengthen self-custody wallets, such as multi-signature transactions, but the anonymous exec still claims the act of self-custody is comparable to stuffing money under your mattress.

Healy added that when it comes to crypto, criminals only see untraceable money in the millions. “That’s not an entirely true characterization,” he said, “but that’s all they see.” He also claims that many crypto kidnappings go unreported and says he is aware of many that never went public.