Bitcoin Red Team reports 5K findings in sweeping security audit

cointelegraphPublished on 2026-08-06Last updated on 2026-08-06

Abstract

A volunteer Bitcoin security group called Bitcoin Red Team, comprised of 16 members, has reported finding nearly 5,000 potential issues during a rapid, AI-assisted audit of Bitcoin ecosystem projects. According to developer Calle, the team averaged about one critical exploit discovery per hour per person. In the first 29.8 hours of operation, they identified 4,962 potential vulnerabilities across 390 projects, with 720 classified as high- or critical-level issues. The campaign follows a recent hack of the Coldcard hardware wallet that resulted in over $100 million in Bitcoin being stolen.

A Bitcoin security group made up of just 16 volunteers said they have found nearly 5,000 potential issues during a rapid AI-assisted review of projects in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Bitcoin Red Team is a volunteer security effort that includes Rob Hamilton, CEO of AnchorWatch and Bitcoin developer Calle, among others, which has been using AI tools and human review to scan open-source Bitcoin-related repositories for vulnerabilities.

“We’re averaging on the order of 1 critical exploit per hour per person,” said Calle in a post to X on Wednesday.

Source: Calle

The launch of the Bitcoin security review campaign comes just days after the Coldcard hardware wallet hack, which has seen over $100 million in Bitcoin stolen.

According to Calle, in the first 29.8 hours of its operation, its team has found 4,962 potential issues across 390 projects. As many as 720 of them are considered high- or critical-level issues. So far, 21.4% of findings have been able to be reproduced.

Related: At least 15 attackers exploited Coldcard vulnerability: Galaxy

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Related Questions

QWhat is the name of the volunteer security group that found nearly 5,000 potential issues in the Bitcoin ecosystem?

AThe volunteer security group is called Bitcoin Red Team.

QHow many volunteers are part of the Bitcoin Red Team security effort mentioned in the article?

AThe Bitcoin Red Team is made up of 16 volunteers.

QAccording to developer Calle, what is the approximate rate of finding critical exploits per person per hour?

AAccording to Calle, they are averaging on the order of 1 critical exploit per hour per person.

QHow many of the 4,962 potential issues found were considered high- or critical-level?

A720 of the 4,962 potential issues found were considered high- or critical-level.

QWhat recent event is mentioned as the context for the launch of this security review campaign?

AThe launch of the Bitcoin security review campaign comes just days after the Coldcard hardware wallet hack, which saw over $100 million in Bitcoin stolen.

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