Who is David Balland, the kidnapped co -founder of the French nugget of Ledger cryptocurrencies?

A shocked entrepreneur. David Balland, partner and co -founder of a company specializing in the security of cryptocurrencies, was released Wednesday evening after being kidnapped and kidnapped on Tuesday in the Cher against a ransom. The kidnappers claimed “Payment of an important ransom in cryptocurrency” And these facts make them “Incur life imprisonment”advance the Paris prosecutor’s office. This public prosecutor said this Thursday that the businessman’s partner had also been released by GIGN and that ten people were arrested.

Rumors first mentioned the disappearance of Eric Larchevêque, very media co -founder of the company and in particular known for his participation in the program of “Who wants to be my partner” broadcast on M6. But it is another influential character in the Vierzon (Cher) region, who was kidnapped at his home in Méreau, David Balland.

The 36 -year -old businessman from Corrèze holds a master’s degree in information science from Supinfo Orléans. In 2011, he co -founded the high -definition musical streaming platform with two discreet partners, Joël Pobeda and Vanessa Rabesandratana. The first appeared in the list of 500 French largest professional fortunes in challenges in 2021 with 300 million euros, the second worked 15 years in “Production of current and symphonic music”. “We were a music platform, an associative project”explained David Balland in a video published on YouTube, 1^is April 2022, in the program Extra-Muros.

The three accomplices finally decided to start towards another much more lucrative entrepreneurial track: cryptocurrencies. In an interview with the local daily of Berry Republican, in 2021, the thirty -something explains that he wanted “Create a cryptocurrency adapted to (its) platform”. “We put away our record stores and we thought that, if there was something to do in cryptocurrency, it was now”he explained.

Leader mondial

Originally from Vierzon, the three specialists launched together Chronocoin.fr, where investors could make bitcoin purchases and receive them on a standard USB key at home. Hackathons (innovation competitions) were launched in the Cher. “We thought it was huge, he says in the video. We wanted to make Bitcoin easy to access. ” The revolutionary idea, given the opacity of the world of cryptocurrency, quickly seduced and Nicolas Bacca, a specialist in the smart card and founder of BTCHIP, joined the adventure by proposing to secure the USB keys.

The two entities merged with the Maison du Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency market project initiated by two other investors, Éric Larchevêque and Thomas France. The store, installed from 2014 to 2020 in the heart of Paris, was a pioneering place for cryptocurrencies on French territory.

After this merger in 2014, Ledger was born with eight partners. Over time, the French company, becomes a world leader in the design of robust physical portfolios of cryptocurrencies, which allow everyone to manage their own cryptoactives live. Valued at around 1.3 billion euros, the unicorn sold more than seven million aircraft in more than 180 countries and in 10 languages. It secures 20% of world digital assets, and has more than 100 institutional customers.

According to the Berry Republican the start-up however experienced some disappointments: two massive data leaks in July 2020, during which 300,000 complete data games and a million email addresses were hacked. Then the National Commission for Data Protection (CNIL) inflicted a fine of 750,000 euros in October 2024 for not sufficiently protected the data from its customers.

Still alongside Joël Pobeda and Vanessa Rabesandratana, David Balland also developed an artistic center in 2019, “The center”to develop exhibitions accessible in the metarers. In the show Extra-murousDavid Balland saw Elon Musk a “Very good cryptos ambassador”. “(Elon Musk) has changed his mind several times and he does a little anything, but he has boosted the ecosystem”estimated the co -founder of Ledger. The latter, in the same video, enjoined young entrepreneurs “Not to invest ideas”.

David Balland’s mutilated finger video

With his partner, Amandine, a web developer, David Balland moved around 2021 in a subdivision at the exit of Vierzon. A few hectometers from the Ledger premises, located in the Sologne technological park. If he seemed to lead a normal lifestyle, David Balland had, like his associates, a cryptocurrency portfolio up to several million euros, which was targeted by the authors of the abduction.

Following the assault, judicial information must be opened on Friday, especially for “Record and sequestration in organized gang”accompanied by“Acts of torture or barbarism” as well as“Extoming with weapon” For the ten people placed in police custody, said Paris Laure Beccuau prosecutor. The National Jurisdiction to Combat Organized Crime (Junalco) is responsible for investigations.

These ten suspects, nine men and a woman aged 20 to 40, were notably arrested in Châteauroux (Indre) for three of them and in Étampes (Essonne) for six. The alert had been given by Eric Larchevêque, co -founder of the company: he received a video of a mutilated finger from David Balland and a ransom request, according to a source close to the file.

It is a “Important ransom in cryptocurrency” required, said the prosecution, without specifying the amount on Thursday. “A part” of this “Rançon was paid as part of the negotiation” with the police, but “The majority of cryptocurrencies have been seized and frozen”however, said the Paris prosecutor. The national gendarmerie was seized as a whole, from the Bourges research section to the Cyber ​​national unit.