Who Is David Balland? Co-Founder of £1B Crypto Startup and Wife Rescued After Shocking Kidnapping

The co-founder of hardware wallet manufacturer, Ledger, recently endured a harrowing ordeal: David Balland and his wife were abducted from their home in Vierzon by a violent criminal gang - highlighting the extreme risks that can come with the cryptocurrency world.

According to the French newspaper Le Parisien, the couple was subjected to brutal torture. In a particularly chilling act, the attackers severed one of Balland's fingers and sent it to his associates as part of their ransom demands.

The terrifying ordeal came to an end after 48 hours, thanks to an intervention by France's elite GIGN tactical unit. The unit carried out two separate operations, successfully rescuing Balland and his wife from different locations. Security experts have described the incident as an "unprecedented escalation" of violent attacks targeting cryptocurrency holders.

Who Is David Balland?

David Balland co-founded Ledger, a leading French crypto company and a global leader in digital wallets and vaults for securely storing crypto assets. 1 Ledger boasts a valuation exceeding £1.1 billion (€1.3 billion) and ranks among France's top 15 unicorns – privately held startups valued at over £800 million ($1 billion). According to The Telegraph, his net worth is in the millions.

Before Ledger, he established Chronocoin, an online platform enabling users to purchase bitcoins using credit cards and have them delivered directly to their homes via a hardware wallet.

Balland boasts a strong background in web development. According to his LinkedIn profile, he previously served as CTO for RadioceRos, one of France's early and popular web radio platforms, and later as Head of IT for Laboheme, a prominent cosmetics company. Notably, he is inactive on LinkedIn.

Since 2023, Balland has been developing Ocel, a 3D studio and VR application currently under development. Initially focusing on artistic and heritage dissemination, Ocel empowers galleries, museums, and exhibition spaces to create digital twins of their venues.

Balland showcases a lighter side on X (formerly Twitter), mainly through his bio, which labels him as 'Kidnapping Championship 2025.' He further pokes fun at the kidnapping incident and loss of his finger with his Twitter profile, saying: 'Fingers: 9/10.' Let's understand the harrowing ordeal he and his wife endured at the hands of their captors.

Inside The Kidnapping Of David Balland

The ordeal began in the early hours of Tuesday morning, 21st January. According to Paris public prosecutor Laure Beccuau, Balland and his wife were abducted from their home and subsequently separated, each taken to a different undisclosed location.

The kidnappers contacted another co-founder of Ledger, demanding a ransom in cryptocurrency. Part of the ransom was paid to the assailants. The GIGN was deployed to negotiate with the attackers and tracked Balland's location.

Police were able to recover Balland, while his wife was found hours later bound and restrained in a van. Nearly all of the cryptocurrency used to pay the ransom has been traced, frozen, and seized, according to a report by Fortune.

Balland was hospitalised to treat a hand wound, Beccuau reported. While his wife escaped physical injury, she is now under the care of medical professionals to address the psychological trauma of the ordeal.

Suspects Arrested: Life Imprisonment Possible

The Parisian prosecutor stated that ten individuals – nine men and one woman, all between the ages of 20 and 40 – have been taken into custody in connection with the kidnapping. Notably, most of these individuals were already known to law enforcement.

Beccuau informed the media that the payment of the ransom, coupled with the acts of torture inflicted upon the victims during the kidnapping, could result in life imprisonment for the arrested individuals if they are found guilty.

'We are deeply relieved that David and his wife have been released and are now safe,' Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier told the media. 'We're grateful to law enforcement for their swift action," he added, saying it was "a traumatic situation that we hope will never be repeated.'