VIDEO. "I'm knocked out": Stéphane Winkel, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur whose wife was kidnapped in the street in Brussels, talks about a life turned upside down

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It's the story of a man who's always on the alert. "I feel less comfortable than before. I'm always very careful where I go and I always keep an eye on everything around me. I pay attention to license plates, to vans. Before, I thought I was completely free. Now, I know I'm not anymore," confides Stéphane Winkel. It was in an apartment rented for the occasion in Brussels that France Télévisions met this cryptocurrency magnate. His family fell victim, shortly before Christmas 2024, to an ultra-violent gang: French people specializing in the kidnapping of crypto entrepreneurs .

In December, while he was at home in a residential area of ​​Brussels, he heard women screaming. Outside, a van. "It took off at full speed. I managed to open the door. But I found myself on the ground. When I found myself on the ground, I saw my wife's shoe right in front of me. And then I understood that it wasn't an ordinary person who had been kidnapped, but it was my wife. And then, the world collapsed. It was a black hole, a heartbeat. For a few seconds, I was knocked out," he says. The kidnappers then contacted the entrepreneur and demanded 10 million euros, threatening his entire family. Pursued by the police, the criminals ended their escape in a ditch, where the wife was found injured, but alive. Broken ribs, bruises everywhere... But she escaped the worst.

Stéphane Winkel wasn't chosen at random. Very active on social media, he flaunted his success in cryptocurrencies. A distinctive sign that was enough for the criminals to target him. Other big names in this sector were also attacked. David Balland, co-founder of Ledger, was mutilated during a kidnapping. The victims, while talking, quickly realized that the attackers' methods overlapped: "same sentences, same amounts demanded, same spelling mistakes."

In the spring, a new attack rocked Paris: the daughter of another crypto tycoon was assaulted in the street, and a video of the attack circulated widely. For Stéphane Winkel, it was a new trauma. Since the attack, the Winkel family's life has been turned upside down. Between constant vigilance and daily fear, the business leader no longer lives as before. In July, his wife's attackers were sentenced to twelve years in prison in Belgium. As for the alleged mastermind of this series of ultra-violent kidnappings, he was arrested in Morocco.