Three masked men in Paris has made the brazen attempt to abduct the daughter and grandson of Pierre Noizat, the co-founder and CEO of French crypto exchange Paymium in broad daylight.

Noizat's daughter and her family were walking in Paris' 11th district with her family when they were ambushed by three masked men who attacked Noizat's daughter and tried to force her into a white van.

When the child's father tried to fight them off, he was beaten over the head. The screams attracted the attention of passersby, who intervened and helped the couple.

One passerby managed to scare the assailants while brandishing a fire extinguisher before throwing it at them as they fled.

During the confrontation, Noizat's daughter could also be seen grabbing a gun off one of the masked men and throwing it into the street. The weapon, which was later recovered from the scene, turned out to be a fake.

Once the attack was over, the victims were helped by people on the street. All three of them sustained light injuries and were treated in hospital.

The woman, who, according to the news outlet, was five months pregnant, was treated for shock, while her partner's face was covered in blood.

The French Minister meets crypto firms as Crypto-Targeted Crimes Rises

The failed kidnapping has prompted urgent calls for action. Paymium released a statement urging French officials to “immediately adopt measures to reinforce the protection of collaborators of companies in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.”

After the incident, the French interior minister reportedly sent a widespread invitation to cryptocurrency industry leaders to discuss security and risk awareness, stating

"I will assemble businesspeople working in cryptocurrencies, and we have a few of those in France, at the interior ministry to work with them on their security."

The attack of Noizat's family is just one of the many recent incidents in France, with at least five other violent attacks targeting crypto executives and their families have been reported in France since 2023.

Earlier this month, Paris police freed the father of a crypto entrepreneur who was held for several days in connection with a 7 million euro kidnapping plot.

At the start of this year, David Balland, co-founder of leading crypto hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger, was abducted from his home in central France. He was held captive until a police operation on the night of Jan.22 secured his release.