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BTC $96,420 +2.34% ETH $3,280 +1.82% SOL $185.40 -0.92% BNB $642.50 +0.45% XRP $2.18 +3.12% DOGE $0.082 -1.50% ADA $1.05 +0.80% AVAX $42.10 +1.15%
BTC $96,420 +2.34% ETH $3,280 +1.82% SOL $185.40 -0.92% BNB $642.50 +0.45% XRP $2.18 +3.12% DOGE $0.082 -1.50% ADA $1.05 +0.80% AVAX $42.10 +1.15%
09/07/2026

Coldcard Hacker Launders $7.7M in BTC, Draining 45% of Third-Wave Haul

What happened: The attacker behind the Coldcard exploit moved 97.

Coldcard Hacker Launders $7.7M in BTC, Draining 45% of Third-Wave Haul

What happened: The attacker behind the Coldcard exploit moved 97.09 BTC (about $7.7 million), representing roughly 45% of the third wave’s stolen bitcoin, according to Galaxy Research. The hacker bridged 20.5 BTC via THORChain to Ethereum and mixed the rest through CoinJoin, systematically emptying the largest of 293 multisig vaults. The root cause traces to a March 2021 firmware bug that weakened Coldcard’s random number generation, collapsing entropy and exposing keys.

Why it matters: The methodical draining and laundering of funds signal the attacker’s confidence in evading recovery, with 82% of the total 1,806 BTC ($143.9 million) exploit still unmoved. The incident highlights persistent risks in hardware wallet design and the challenges of post-exploit asset tracing, despite coordinated efforts by on-chain investigators and law enforcement.

Source: Decrypt