Suspected 4th Coldcard attack wave sweeps 389 Bitcoin: Galaxy’s Thorn

cointelegraphPublished on 2026-08-03Last updated on 2026-08-03

Abstract

Coldcard hardware wallet users are facing a new wave of coordinated attacks targeting a firmware flaw, with researcher Alex Thorn flagging 218 recent transactions moving approximately 389 Bitcoin from potentially impacted addresses. The attack pattern shows a high rate of transactions targeting unique victim addresses, differing from previous waves. The vulnerability, which causes affected devices to generate weaker wallet seeds, is estimated to have impacted over 1,100 wallets, leading to around $90 million in Bitcoin stolen. Thorn advises affected users who control their keys may attempt to move funds with a higher-fee transaction before the attacker's transactions are confirmed.

Coldcard users are being warned of a new wave of coordinated thefts targeting their Bitcoin hardware wallets, coming just days after the first wave of attacks on Thursday.

In an X post on Monday, Galaxy research head Alex Thorn flagged 218 transactions impacting 462 potential victim addresses in the last few hours, moving around 388.9 Bitcoin (BTC).

Thorn said the activity averaged 13.8 sweeps per block, around 45 times the rate observed in a pre-incident control window. Most transfers have seen a fresh destination created for each victim rather than converging on a central collection wallet.

Some funds have already been swept into second hop addresses, he said.

Related: Coldcard Bitcoin loss estimate rises to $70M after Galaxy analysis

“These are LIKELY Coldcard victims — they match the shape of coldcard vulnerable utxos and the elevated transaction pattern gives me high confidence they are another wave of attacks,” said Thorn.

The researcher said there are similar transactions in the mempool waiting to be confirmed. Affected users who control the relevant keys may be able to broadcast a conflicting transaction with a higher fee to move their funds to a secure wallet before the attacker’s transaction is confirmed.

The activity follows the disclosure of a previously undetected Coldcard firmware flaw that has caused affected devices to generate wallet seeds with less entropy than intended. The latest estimates suggest over 1,100 wallets have been impacted, with $90 million in Bitcoin stolen.

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Related Questions

QWhat is the suspected fourth attack wave targeting Coldcard users, according to Galaxy's Alex Thorn?

AThe suspected fourth attack wave is a new wave of coordinated thefts targeting Coldcard Bitcoin hardware wallets, involving 218 transactions that moved around 388.9 Bitcoin from 462 potential victim addresses.

QHow does the current transaction sweep rate compare to the pre-incident period, as noted by Alex Thorn?

AThe current activity averages 13.8 sweeps per block, which is about 45 times the rate observed in a pre-incident control window.

QWhat is the underlying technical flaw that has made Coldcard wallets vulnerable to these attacks?

AThe underlying flaw is a previously undetected Coldcard firmware vulnerability that caused affected devices to generate wallet seeds with less entropy (randomness) than intended.

QWhat potential action can affected users take to try and save their funds before an attacker's transaction is confirmed?

AAffected users who control the relevant keys can attempt to broadcast a conflicting transaction with a higher fee to move their funds to a secure wallet before the attacker's transaction is confirmed on the blockchain.

QWhat are the latest estimated total impacts of this Coldcard vulnerability in terms of wallets and value stolen?

AThe latest estimates suggest over 1,100 wallets have been impacted, with approximately $90 million worth of Bitcoin stolen.

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