Coldcard Vulnerability Leads to Over 330,000 New Bitcoin Addresses in a Week

Last week, the number of new Bitcoin addresses surged from around 260,000 to over 330,000, reversing a downward trend that had persisted for most of 2026, influenced by wallet migrations triggered by the Coldcard vulnerability. Since July 30, Coinkite hardware wallet users have lost at least 1,816 BTC, worth approximately $116 million, across four waves of attacks. The vulnerability originated from a firmware flaw in 2021, which used a less secure software random number generator when generating mnemonic phrases, allowing attackers to brute-force wallets generated offline. Coinkite recommends that users who created wallets between March 2021 and the release of the security patch migrate to new wallets. This incident highlights the risks associated with self-custody, prompting users to reassess the pros and cons of self-custody versus custodial solutions like centralized exchanges or ETFs.

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