Coldcard Exploit Losses May Reach $130M as Galaxy Identifies 15 Attackers

Key Point

Galaxy Digital Head of Research Alex Thorn said new victim reports show at least 15 attackers have exploited the Coldcard vulnerability. Thorn said victim information helped the research team uncover previously unidentified attack activity. Thorn added that one victim report involving less than 1 BTC helped identify an attack that siphoned about 12 BTC from 126 addresses. Galaxy Research earlier estimated at least three attack rounds with about $100 million in BTC losses. Galaxy Research has identified a suspected fourth attack round that could bring total losses to about $130 million.

Why it matters: Security failures in self-custody tools may reduce user confidence when losses appear across multiple attack rounds.

Market Sentiment

Bearish, Stress-on, Event-driven, Volatile.

Reason: Galaxy Research estimated that the Coldcard vulnerability has caused about $100 million in BTC losses.

Similar Past Cases

In the Bybit hack aftermath, attackers stole about $1.4 billion from the exchange, and the incident became a major test of exchange security confidence. (TechCrunch) The key difference is that the Coldcard case centers on self-custody wallet vulnerability discovery rather than a centralized exchange compromise.

Ripple Effect

Repeated victim reports could expand the known exposure map and increase audit pressure on wallet developers. If additional victim feedback confirms more attack rounds, then the security concern could spread from one wallet product to broader self-custody practices.

Opportunities & Risks

Opportunities: If on-chain analysis links attackers and narrows affected addresses, then affected users can treat that confirmation as a recovery and monitoring signal.

Risks: If Galaxy Research confirms the suspected fourth attack round, then moving funds away from vulnerable setups becomes a defensive signal.