A firmware flaw in Coldcard hardware wallets dating back to 2021 weakened the randomness used to generate seed keys, allowing an attacker to identify affected Bitcoin addresses and drain them in escalating waves. Galaxy Research has repeatedly revised its estimate of the losses as new waves of theft were uncovered.
Early reporting put the scale of a single wave at over a thousand Bitcoin. The Hacker News reported that "an attacker drained 1,196 Bitcoin addresses in 41 minutes on July 30, taking 1,082.65 BTC worth about $70.2 million at the time."1 Bitcoin.com News gave a related figure, stating that "Coldcard-linked seeds exposed 1,128.4717 BTC worth about $71.1 million."2
The tally continued to grow as researchers tracked additional affected addresses. AOL reported that "the firm is now tracking 1,158.66 BTC, worth roughly $75.1 million, taken from 2,673 addresses."3 The Crypto Times later reported a further revision, noting that "Galaxy Research, the blockchain research firm, has revised its estimate of the Coldcard wallet exploit, revealing a third wave of attacks that has pushed the total stolen Bitcoin (BTC) to 1,367.05 BTC, worth approximately $88.6 million, across 4,585 addresses."4
Coldcard's maker, Coinkite, and its founder Novak offered an explanation for how the years-old flaw may have come to light. Bitcoin.com News reported that "Coinkite and Novak also advanced a striking theory about how the flaw was discovered. Because its firmware had been publicly available for years, the company said it believed someone may have used AI to examine older versions of the code and locate the weak randomness path."2
Amid the unfolding theft, at least one outlet noted movement in Bitcoin's price. The Coin Republic reported that "Bitcoin traded near $62,600 as of writing, CoinMarketCap data showed. That price stood about 3% below the previous close."5
Coverage of this story so far has come only from outlets in the center of the political spectrum, and sources differ in emphasis rather than in the core facts, with some outlets focusing on technical root-cause detail, others on the AI-discovery angle, and others on price impact or reader-advice framing; see the framing comparison below.