In a bizarre development, an alleged kidnapping story of Ledger co-founder Eric Larchevêque is apparently a hoax. There is little information about Larchevêque‘s current whereabouts, but a “Justice for Eric” meme coin launched and crashed.
This strange episode took off like wildfire through crypto social media, but there was apparently not a scrap of proof.
Who Kidnapped Eric Larchevêque?
Ledger, a hardware wallet firm based in France, has experienced some difficulties recently. Its most recent major headlines were related to phishing scams targeting its users. However, today’s incident is far more dramatic.
According to local media, Ledger’s co-founder Eric Larchevêque was kidnapped. The report even alleged that the criminals demanded Bitcoin as a ransom.
This incident raises a lot of questions. For one, Larchevêque hasn’t been involved with Ledger since resigning in 2019. It appears that the kidnapping was staged, but this claim comes from an odd source.
Eventhough the rumor spread like a wildfire across social media, Larchevêque didn’t make any posts clarifying his current state. He’s a fairly active user on X (formerly Twitter), yet his last post was over 24 hours ago.
Instead, local crypto reporter Grégory Raymond stated that it was a hoax.
“We are able to assure that Eric Larchevêque (co-founder of Ledger) is not involved in the kidnapping rumor about him. Be careful with published information that could threaten an ongoing investigation in France and possibly someone else’s life,” Raymond claimed.
He added that “Eric is safe,” but was unable to communicate any other updates. This news did little to alleviate the community’s concerns and indeed only raised further questions.
If Larchevêque isn’t party to this kidnapping, then who is, and who would pretend to kidnap an ex-employee of Ledger?
The firm has been riddled with controversy over the last few years, but this incident takes the cake. Since Larchevêque and the original founders departed, Ledger’s new CEO received a lot of bad press over security concerns.
Also, back in 2023, the firm carried out massive layoffs. However, issues like this wouldn’t explain a fake kidnapping scandal.
Meme Coin Community Jumps In
Meanwhile, the story was viral enough for meme coin enthusiasts to jump in. An anonymous user launched a “Justice for Eric” meme coin on Solana, but its market cap cratered almost immediately.
Whoever launched it may be totally unrelated to the incident and only intending to do a quick rug pull. It still doesn’t answer any of the biggest lingering questions.
Ultimately, wherever Larchevêque is, or whatever reason Ledger’s name keeps coming up, this hoax highlights a growing issue in crypto. Several popular X accounts immediately began circulating this kidnapping story, even though there was no proof.
This entire episode may be more of a misunderstanding than a deliberate hoax, but it spread like wildfire all the same. The correct details of this story will only surface when Larchevêque gives an update on social media.
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