{"id":4841,"date":"2026-08-03T21:41:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T21:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841"},"modified":"2026-08-03T21:41:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T21:41:15","slug":"bitcoin-owners-rocked-by-116-million-hack-what-we-know-about-the-coldcard-exploit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin owners rocked by $116 million hack: What we know about the Coldcard exploit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It remains unclear who is behind the hack. While recent large crypto thefts have often been attributed to state-backed groups in North Korea or Russia, investigators have not yet linked this incident to any specific actor.<\/p>\n

Read more Kalshi CEO clashes with disgraced former Congressman George Santos in latest prediction market controversy<\/a><\/p>\n

Coldcard, made by Canadian technology firm Coinkite, is a small hardware device that keeps Bitcoin keys offline, marketed as \u201ccold\u201d storage for long\u2011term holders. That offline design was supposed to make it one of the safest places to park Bitcoin, but a flaw in Coldcard\u2019s process created a fatal vulnerability.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The weakness is rooted in a 2021 Coldcard software update that changed the way the wallet generated its recovery phrase\u2014a series of random words, such as \u201cpepper\u201d or \u201cfloorboard\u201d for instance, that provide a means of regenerating the dozens of random characters that make up a Bitcoin address.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to a report by the Bitcoin engineering and security teams at financial technology firm Block, the Coldcard devices stopped using strong, unpredictable randomness to generate phrases, and instead took a shortcut process that follows patterns. Once attackers learned that, they could mirror the same process on their own computers, guess many possible recovery phrases, and see which ones unlocked real wallets\u2014letting them steal funds without ever touching the device.<\/p>\n

Coinkite has since issued an open letter strongly advising users who generated a wallet seed on Coldcard devices to move their funds as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last three days have been some of the hardest in this company\u2019s history, and for a lot of the people reading this, they\u2019ve been something much worse,\u201d the company said in a social media post.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Coldcard attack is one of hundreds of crypto hacks this year. Over the past six months, attackers launched 207 separate incidents\u2014the most ever recorded in any half\u2011year period by blockchain analytics platform TRM Labs. Yet total losses reached about $972 million, or less than half the $2.3 billion stolen in the first half of 2025.<\/p>\n

Read more The Danube is running dry, and Europe\u2019s power grid is suffering as a result<\/a><\/p>\n

The breach rocked sentiment on Crypto Twitter, with influencers and company executives commenting on its implications. Despite this, the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum were contained overall, with both cryptocurrencies experiencing less than a 1% drop since Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On July 30, mapping the flow of funds for the original Coldcard vulnerability identified by Block, Galaxy Research discovered that, in the span of just 41 minutes, 1,196 addresses were fully drained for a little over 1,083 Bitcoin, or approximately $70.2 million.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

By the following day, additional reporting confirmed that a major portion of these early losses\u2014roughly 594 Bitcoin worth $38 million\u2014occurred in a single 25-minute sweep of about 500 single-signature wallets. The third wave of sweeps occurred between Friday midday and Saturday morning, draining 208 Bitcoin from 1,912 addresses. On Monday morning, investigators detected the fourth wave, which ultimately brought the total estimated losses to 1,816 Bitcoin.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The incident has reignited a long\u2011running debate among Bitcoin holders over where to keep their coins. While some still argue strongly for self\u2011custody, others say this hack has pushed them toward the perceived safety and simplicity of large centralized platforms like Binance and Coinbase.<\/p>\n

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, commonly known as CZ, raised the issue in a recent social media post. \u201cI\u2019m a believer in self-custody, but it puts the burden on you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Read more The Iran war already has a winner: The world\u2019s largest shipbroker notching record earnings from the \u2018exceptional volatility\u2019 in the Strait of Hormuz<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The hack, which has drained 1,816 Bitcoin across 5,200 addresses, is devastating because it affected hyper-secure cold storage wallets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[363],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bitcoin"],"yoast_head":"\nBitcoin owners rocked by $116 million hack: What we know about the Coldcard exploit - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bitcoin owners rocked by $116 million hack: What we know about the Coldcard exploit - Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The hack, which has drained 1,816 Bitcoin across 5,200 addresses, is devastating because it affected hyper-secure cold storage wallets.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-03T21:41:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4841#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4841\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"headline\":\"Bitcoin owners rocked by $116 million hack: What we know about the Coldcard exploit\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-03T21:41:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4841\"},\"wordCount\":611,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4841#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/81edb5c8eccc94b0244a067cb1e432b5.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Bitcoin\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4841#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4841\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4841\",\"name\":\"Bitcoin owners rocked by $116 million hack: What we know about the Coldcard exploit - Cross Country Moving Team\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4841#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4841#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/81edb5c8eccc94b0244a067cb1e432b5.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-03T21:41:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4841#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4841\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4841#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/81edb5c8eccc94b0244a067cb1e432b5.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/81edb5c8eccc94b0244a067cb1e432b5.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4841#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bitcoin owners rocked by $116 million hack: What we know about the Coldcard exploit\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cross Country Moving Team\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bitcoin owners rocked by $116 million hack: What we know about the Coldcard exploit - Cross Country Moving Team","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bitcoin owners rocked by $116 million hack: What we know about the Coldcard exploit - Cross Country Moving Team","og_description":"The hack, which has drained 1,816 Bitcoin across 5,200 addresses, is devastating because it affected hyper-secure cold storage wallets.","og_url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841","og_site_name":"Cross Country Moving Team","article_published_time":"2026-08-03T21:41:15+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"headline":"Bitcoin owners rocked by $116 million hack: What we know about the Coldcard exploit","datePublished":"2026-08-03T21:41:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841"},"wordCount":611,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81edb5c8eccc94b0244a067cb1e432b5.webp","articleSection":["Bitcoin"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841","name":"Bitcoin owners rocked by $116 million hack: What we know about the Coldcard exploit - Cross Country Moving Team","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81edb5c8eccc94b0244a067cb1e432b5.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-03T21:41:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81edb5c8eccc94b0244a067cb1e432b5.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81edb5c8eccc94b0244a067cb1e432b5.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4841#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bitcoin owners rocked by $116 million hack: What we know about the Coldcard exploit"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/","name":"Cross Country Moving Team","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com"],"url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}