Audit log

Every state-changing event for Coldcard / Coinkite Firmware Seed-Generation Exploit (July-August 2026): moderation decisions on community submissions, plus corrections and updates from the news pipeline. URL-based decisions are designed to carry three independent witnesses — the original source, an Internet Archive snapshot, and a Solana memo signed by our publicly-disclosed publisher key. Archive coverage is still being backfilled, so each decision below reports its own snapshot status rather than assuming one exists.

1. #1publishby system:backfill

   2026-08-02 23:05:34Z
   Score: ? → ? (no score change)
   anchorpending

   chain

   ●—

   hash

   ACT9h9ReFzxR…QzAqbVyqcopysha256 → base58

   verifying row…

   canonical bytes (29138 B) ▸

   {"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"c3596645-7c79-4441-af5c-31779a8dc309","kind":"publish","page_slug":"coldcard-coinkite-firmware-seed-generation-exploit-july-august-2026","published_at":"2026-08-02T23:05:34.587Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Coldcard / Coinkite Firmware Seed-Generation Exploit (July-August 2026)","sections":[{"content":"The root cause was a single commit (b18723dd, dated March 1, 2021) that changed wallet seed-generation code from `ckcc.rng_bytes`—which correctly invoked the STM32 hardware RNG peripheral—to `ngu.random.bytes`, which fell through to MicroPython's deterministic Yasmarang PRNG fallback. This regression entered released firmware as version 4.0.0 on March 17, 2021, and remained undetected for over five years. The underlying issue was compounded by a configuration-macro bug in the libngu library: the production board definition sets `MICROPY_HW_ENABLE_RNG` to zero because Coldcard supplies its own RNG wrapper, but libngu checked only whether the macro was defined rather than whether it was enabled. As a result, the build succeeded while silently binding to the insecure fallback. On Mk2 and Mk3 devices, no cryptographic entropy was added at all; for a known device UID, timer state, and call history, wallet seed generation was fully deterministic. On Mk4, Q, and Mk5 devices, the secure element attempted a reseed but accepted only one 32-bit state word rather than initializing a cryptographic DRBG, capping the search space at approximately 2^32 possibilities rather than the intended 2^128. Block Engineering published a detailed technical disclosure of these findings.","heading":"Vulnerability Overview","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Predictable RNG Fallback and 32-Bit Reseed in COLDCARD Firmware — Block Engineering Blog","type":"research","url":"https://engineering.block.xyz/blog/predictable-rng-fallback-and-32-bit-reseed-in-coldcard-firmware"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Coldcard Hardware Wallet Flaw Linked to $70 Million Bitcoin Theft in 41 Minutes — The Hacker News","type":"news_article","url":"https://thehackernews.com/2026/08/coldcard-hardware-wallet-flaw-linked-to.html"},{"credibility":1,"name":"How bitcoin cold wallets lost $70 million in an attack that never touched the devices — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/08/01/how-bitcoin-cold-wallets-lost-usd70-million-in-an-attack-that-never-touched-the-devices"}]},{"content":"According to Coinkite's official security advisory (updated August 1, 2026), the following device and firmware version combinations are affected. Mk2 and Mk3: firmware versions 4.0.1 through 4.1.9 (beginning March 2021); the vulnerability was fixed in version 4.2.0. Mk4 and Mk5 Standard: all versions before 5.6.0. Mk4 and Mk5 Edge builds: all versions before 6.6.0X. Q Standard: all versions before 1.5.0Q. Q Edge builds: all versions before 6.6.0QX. Block Engineering's analysis found that Mk4, Q, and Mk5 all-production firmware were affected because the secure-element reseed limitation applied to those chip families as well. Coinkite's advisory notes that seeds generated with at least 50 independent, private, fair dice rolls entered during setup are not considered at risk from the RNG issue alone, and that a strong BIP-39 passphrase provides an additional security barrier—but does not repair an affected seed. Products using different codebases—TAPSIGNER, OPENDIME, and SATSCARD—were confirmed unaffected. Competing hardware wallets from Block (Bitkey), Trezor, and Ledger were also confirmed unaffected.","heading":"Affected Models and Firmware Versions","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Coinkite Official Security Advisory — Coldcard Mk3 Seed Generation Warning","type":"official","url":"https://blog.coinkite.com/coldcard-mk3-seed-generation-warning/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Predictable RNG Fallback and 32-Bit Reseed in COLDCARD Firmware — Block Engineering Blog","type":"research","url":"https://engineering.block.xyz/blog/predictable-rng-fallback-and-32-bit-reseed-in-coldcard-firmware"},{"credibility":2,"name":"A build error in Coldcard's firmware drained $38 million in bitcoin in 25 minutes — Crypto News","type":"news_article","url":"https://crypto.news/coldcard-firmware-bug-drains-38-million-bitcoin/"}]},{"content":"The attacker(s) exploited the reduced entropy entirely offline, without physical access to any victim device. By constraining or recovering the device UID, timer state, and RNG-call history, an attacker can reproduce the fallback PRNG stream for any affected device and derive all possible seeds from the weakened entropy space. The attacker generated candidate seeds offline, derived the corresponding Bitcoin addresses, and cross-referenced those addresses against the public blockchain to identify funded wallets. Wave 1 began at approximately 01:10 UTC on July 30, 2026, and concluded at 01:51 UTC—a 41-minute window spanning six blocks—during which 1,082.65 BTC was drained from 1,196 addresses. Wave 1 used shared collector addresses and averaged close to one full BTC per victim, making the sweeps straightforward to track on-chain. Wave 2 occurred approximately 27 hours later and shared nearly identical transaction fingerprints with Wave 1, including hardcoded fees of 30 sat/vB and the same batching patterns, suggesting a single operator. Wave 3 was identified by Galaxy Research on the Friday–Saturday UTC window of August 1–2, 2026; it drained an additional 207.73 BTC from 1,912 addresses. Wave 3 exhibited divergent methodology: victims received funds at individual destination addresses rather than shared collector addresses, outputs used P2WSH (enabling multisignature or timelock conditions) rather than P2WPKH, and only default derivation paths were scanned, batching approximately six victims per sweep transaction. As of reporting, all 1,367 BTC in attacker-controlled addresses remained unmoved—described by Galaxy Research as unusual for a theft of this scale, suggesting the perpetrator may be waiting for attention to subside or lacks a safe laundering path. Block's security researcher Clay Garrett identified that the attacker made at least one operational security error: they used a paid account at a well-known blockchain data provider to query source addresses during the sweeps, and Block traced the activity with what Garrett described as 'extraordinary specificity, down to the number, timing and sequence of requests.' Block passed this information to authorities.","heading":"Attack Mechanics and Timeline","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"How bitcoin cold wallets lost $70 million in an attack that never touched the devices — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/08/01/how-bitcoin-cold-wallets-lost-usd70-million-in-an-attack-that-never-touched-the-devices"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Bitcoin cold-wallet attack spreads to 4,500 addresses as losses near $89 million — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/08/02/bitcoin-cold-wallet-attack-spreads-to-4-500-addresses-as-losses-near-usd89-million"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Coldcard Hack Tops $88.6M as Galaxy Finds Third Attack Wave — Crypto Times","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/08/02/coldcard-hack-tops-88-6m-as-galaxy-finds-third-attack-wave/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Galaxy Research identifies 1,367 BTC drained in attacks on Coldcard addresses — Crypto Briefing","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/galaxy-research-coldcard-btc-attack-1367/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Galaxy Research on X — attacker addresses reported to federal investigators","type":"social_media","url":"https://x.com/glxyresearch/status/2083705254172864861"}]},{"content":"Galaxy Research's revised estimate, as of August 2, 2026, placed total confirmed losses at 1,367.05 BTC across 4,585 addresses, valued at approximately $88.6 million at prevailing prices. The majority of affected wallets contained under 1 BTC, though the bulk of stolen value originated from wallets with larger holdings, consistent with individual self-custody users rather than institutional actors. All compromised addresses were created after the vulnerable firmware first released in March 2021. Of the 1,196 wallets affected in Wave 1, 1,183 used native SegWit (P2WPKH) address format, seven used legacy P2PKH, and six used P2SH formats. Cryptoslate reported that the movement of more than 1,300 BTC in a compressed window triggered the largest Bitcoin blockchain activity since the FTX collapse, distorting on-chain metrics and briefly affecting market sentiment. The stolen funds had not been moved to exchanges or mixing services as of reporting, leaving them visible and tracked on-chain.","heading":"Financial Impact and Victim Profile","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Bitcoin cold-wallet attack spreads to 4,500 addresses as losses near $89 million — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/08/02/bitcoin-cold-wallet-attack-spreads-to-4-500-addresses-as-losses-near-usd89-million"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Galaxy Research Identifies $88.6M Theft from Coldcard-Generated Bitcoin Addresses — KuCoin","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/galaxy-research-identifies-88-6m-theft-from-coldcard-generated-bitcoin-addresses"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Coldcard's $89M wallet bug triggers the biggest Bitcoin movement since FTX — CryptoSlate","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptoslate.com/coldcards-89m-wallet-bug-triggers-the-biggest-bitcoin-movement-since-ftx-and-completely-distorts-market-signals/"}]},{"content":"Coinkite CEO Rodolfo Novak (known publicly as NVK) issued a public apology and acknowledgment of full responsibility on July 31, 2026, writing: 'I'm sorry and I'm devastated. Our team is heartbroken about yesterday's news.' Novak acknowledged the company's internal review process had failed to identify the vulnerability. Emergency firmware updates were released on July 31, 2026, at 9:33 a.m. EDT for all affected device families: version 4.2.0 for Mk2/Mk3, version 5.6.0 for Mk4/Mk5, and version 1.5.0Q for the Q model. However, Coinkite's official advisory explicitly states that installing the updated firmware does not repair seeds that were already generated on vulnerable versions. Coinkite's official guidance directs users to update firmware, generate a new seed on the patched firmware, verify backups, test with a small transaction, and then migrate remaining funds. Coinkite also warned that no test exists for users to determine whether their existing seeds fall within the exploitable range, making migration the only safe path. Novak suggested the vulnerability may have been identified and exploited using AI-assisted code analysis, stating that 'AI-assisted code review can now find latent bugs at a speed outpacing even the industry's most seasoned experts,' characterizing it as 'a sober reality of the new AI paradigm.' The official advisory also clarified that seeds generated with at least 50 independent, private, fair dice rolls during initial setup were not considered at risk from the RNG flaw alone.","heading":"Coinkite Response and Remediation","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Coinkite Official Security Advisory — Coldcard Mk3 Seed Generation Warning","type":"official","url":"https://blog.coinkite.com/coldcard-mk3-seed-generation-warning/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Coldcard exploit reignites Bitcoin self-custody debate after $38 million theft — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/07/31/coldcard-s-usd38-million-so-far-exploit-shakes-faith-in-self-custody-may-push-investors-to-etfs"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Coinkite Releases Fixed Firmware After Coldcard Bug; AI Likely Involved In The Breach — Bitcoin Magazine","type":"news_article","url":"https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/coinkite-releases-fixed-firmware-after-coldcard-bug-ai-likely-involved-in-the-hack"},{"credibility":3,"name":"NVK public statement on X","type":"social_media","url":"https://x.com/nvk/status/2083216713693151552"}]},{"content":"Galaxy Research reported approximately 600 addresses believed to hold Bitcoin stolen from vulnerable Coldcard-generated addresses to federal investigators, industry compliance firms, and cross-industry cyber investigators. The firm stated it had developed on-chain patterns from victim-provided wallet addresses and transaction IDs that allowed clustering of attacker-controlled addresses. Block's researcher Clay Garrett separately passed information about the attacker's blockchain data provider account—which matched the workflow with what he described as 'extraordinary specificity, down to the number, timing and sequence of requests'—to law enforcement authorities. Public commentator Natalie Brunell publicly asked the FBI director whether the agency was investigating the thefts. As of reporting, no law enforcement agency had publicly confirmed an open investigation or made any arrests. Galaxy Research noted that all stolen Bitcoin remained in attacker-controlled addresses and had not been moved through exchanges or mixing services, potentially aiding future seizure or tracing efforts. Legal firm Stoltmann Law Offices published an analysis of potential legal theories for victims—including negligence, breach of warranty, and consumer protection violations—but as of August 2, 2026, no lawsuits had been filed and no court had made any findings regarding liability.","heading":"Law Enforcement and Investigative Activity","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"Galaxy Research on X — attacker addresses reported to federal investigators","type":"social_media","url":"https://x.com/glxyresearch/status/2083705254172864861"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Bitcoin cold-wallet attack spreads to 4,500 addresses as losses near $89 million — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/08/02/bitcoin-cold-wallet-attack-spreads-to-4-500-addresses-as-losses-near-usd89-million"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Over 1300 bitcoins reportedly stolen in ColdCard hacks — Traders Union","type":"news_article","url":"https://tradersunion.com/news/market-voices/show/2872461-fbi-coldcard-bitcoin-hack/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Coldcard Wallet Bitcoin Theft — Legal Options for Victims — Stoltmann Law","type":"other","url":"https://stoltmannlaw.com/coldcard-wallet-bitcoin-theft-claims/"}]},{"content":"The exploit prompted immediate commentary across the Bitcoin self-custody community and beyond. Bitcoin commentator Guy Swann characterized the event as 'the worst hit in bitcoin history to the most knowledgeable and properly secured bitcoiners,' in reference to the fact that Coldcard users are typically considered among the most security-conscious members of the Bitcoin community. Lorenzo Valente of ARK Invest stated that consumers had 'traded counterparty risk for software risk, hardware risk, supply-chain risk, phishing risk, backup risk.' Casa CEO Nick Neuman remarked that 'you just can't ask people to roll dice to be secure with your self custody,' referencing Coinkite's dice-roll mitigation guidance. Amicus co-founder David Lawrence suggested the event might represent 'a turning point' in the vision of widespread Bitcoin self-custody. The theft triggered broader industry debate about the viability of hardware wallet self-custody versus regulated custodians and spot Bitcoin ETFs. Coinkite's competitors—Block (Bitkey), Trezor, and Ledger—each confirmed their products were not affected by the same vulnerability class, and the incident drew comparisons to past exchange failures to highlight the distinct risk profile of hardware wallet software bugs.","heading":"Industry and Community Impact","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Coldcard exploit reignites Bitcoin self-custody debate after $38 million theft — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/07/31/coldcard-s-usd38-million-so-far-exploit-shakes-faith-in-self-custody-may-push-investors-to-etfs"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Coldcard Hardware Wallet Flaw Linked to $70 Million Bitcoin Theft in 41 Minutes — The Hacker News","type":"news_article","url":"https://thehackernews.com/2026/08/coldcard-hardware-wallet-flaw-linked-to.html"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Coldcard firmware flaw: hackers drain $70 million in Bitcoin — TechSpot","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.techspot.com/news/113322-coldcard-firmware-flaw-hackers-drain-70-million-bitcoin.html"}]},{"content":"Coinkite CEO NVK alleged that the attacker likely used AI-assisted code review to identify the latent entropy vulnerability before Coinkite's own security processes detected it. NVK noted that Coinkite had conducted its own AI-assisted code audit of the same code weeks prior, which had not surfaced the bug. The allegation is consistent with the pattern of exploitation—the vulnerability required identifying a subtle build-system macro interaction and linking it to exploitable entropy reduction, a task that AI-assisted static analysis tools are increasingly capable of performing at scale. No independent confirmation that an AI tool specifically surfaced this vulnerability has been published as of August 2, 2026. The allegation is therefore treated as alleged.","heading":"AI Involvement Allegation","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Coinkite Releases Fixed Firmware After Coldcard Bug; AI Likely Involved In The Breach — Bitcoin Magazine","type":"news_article","url":"https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/coinkite-releases-fixed-firmware-after-coldcard-bug-ai-likely-involved-in-the-hack"},{"credibility":2,"name":"A build error in Coldcard's firmware drained $38 million in bitcoin in 25 minutes — Crypto News","type":"news_article","url":"https://crypto.news/coldcard-firmware-bug-drains-38-million-bitcoin/"}]},{"content":"As of August 2, 2026, Coinkite has confirmed that no test exists to determine whether an individual seed falls within the exploitable range. Any seed generated on a vulnerable firmware version must be treated as potentially compromised and migrated. Users who added 50 or more independent, private, fair dice rolls during initial seed creation are considered not at risk from the RNG flaw alone, though Coinkite advises caution. Users with strong, unique BIP-39 passphrases have an additional security barrier, but this does not repair an affected base seed. Coinkite's recommended migration path: update to patched firmware, generate a new seed, verify backups on a test device, confirm with a small outbound transaction, and then move remaining funds. Galaxy Research's assessment is that the profitable segment of the exploitable key space appears to have been largely exhausted by the three observed attack waves, but this assessment cannot be verified with certainty. Users holding Bitcoin on Coldcard wallets generated between March 2021 and the release of patched firmware versions should treat migration as urgent regardless of whether their specific wallet has been swept.","heading":"Unresolved Risks and User Guidance","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Coinkite Official Security Advisory — Coldcard Mk3 Seed Generation Warning","type":"official","url":"https://blog.coinkite.com/coldcard-mk3-seed-generation-warning/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Coldcard Hack Tops $88.6M as Galaxy Finds Third Attack Wave — Crypto Times","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/08/02/coldcard-hack-tops-88-6m-as-galaxy-finds-third-attack-wave/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Hardware Bitcoin Wallet Bug Puts Years of BTC Seeds at Risk — Bitcoin Foundation","type":"news_article","url":"https://bitcoinfoundation.org/news/crimes-and-fraud-news/coldcard-hardware-bitcoin-wallet-bug/"}]}],"sources_used":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Coinkite Official Security Advisory — Coldcard Mk3 Seed Generation Warning","type":"official","url":"https://blog.coinkite.com/coldcard-mk3-seed-generation-warning/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"How bitcoin cold wallets lost $70 million in an attack that never touched the devices — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/08/01/how-bitcoin-cold-wallets-lost-usd70-million-in-an-attack-that-never-touched-the-devices"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Bitcoin cold-wallet attack spreads to 4,500 addresses as losses near $89 million — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/08/02/bitcoin-cold-wallet-attack-spreads-to-4-500-addresses-as-losses-near-usd89-million"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Coldcard exploit reignites Bitcoin self-custody debate after $38 million theft — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/07/31/coldcard-s-usd38-million-so-far-exploit-shakes-faith-in-self-custody-may-push-investors-to-etfs"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Major bitcoin wallet flaw drains 594 BTC in 25-minute sweep — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/31/major-bitcoin-wallet-flaw-drains-594-btc-in-25-minute-sweep"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Predictable RNG Fallback and 32-Bit Reseed in COLDCARD Firmware — Block Engineering Blog","type":"research","url":"https://engineering.block.xyz/blog/predictable-rng-fallback-and-32-bit-reseed-in-coldcard-firmware"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Coldcard Hardware Wallet Flaw Linked to $70 Million Bitcoin Theft in 41 Minutes — The Hacker News","type":"news_article","url":"https://thehackernews.com/2026/08/coldcard-hardware-wallet-flaw-linked-to.html"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Coinkite Releases Fixed Firmware After Coldcard Bug; AI Likely Involved In The Breach — Bitcoin Magazine","type":"news_article","url":"https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/coinkite-releases-fixed-firmware-after-coldcard-bug-ai-likely-involved-in-the-hack"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Bitcoin losses linked to Coldcard vulnerability grow to $70 million — The Block","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/410332/bitcoin-losses-linked-coldcard-vulnerability-70-million-galaxy-research"},{"credibility":2,"name":"A build error in Coldcard's firmware drained $38 million in bitcoin in 25 minutes — Crypto News","type":"news_article","url":"https://crypto.news/coldcard-firmware-bug-drains-38-million-bitcoin/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Coldcard Hack Tops $88.6M as Galaxy Finds Third Attack Wave — Crypto Times","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/08/02/coldcard-hack-tops-88-6m-as-galaxy-finds-third-attack-wave/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Coldcard Hack Hits $75M After Alleged Second Attack Wave — Crypto Times","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/08/01/coldcard-hack-hits-75m-after-alleged-second-attack-wave-galaxy-research/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Galaxy Research identifies 1,367 BTC drained in attacks on Coldcard addresses — Crypto Briefing","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/galaxy-research-coldcard-btc-attack-1367/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Galaxy Research Identifies $88.6M Theft from Coldcard-Generated Bitcoin Addresses — KuCoin","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/galaxy-research-identifies-88-6m-theft-from-coldcard-generated-bitcoin-addresses"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Coldcard's $89M wallet bug triggers the biggest Bitcoin movement since FTX — CryptoSlate","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptoslate.com/coldcards-89m-wallet-bug-triggers-the-biggest-bitcoin-movement-since-ftx-and-completely-distorts-market-signals/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Coldcard firmware flaw: hackers drain $70 million in Bitcoin — TechSpot","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.techspot.com/news/113322-coldcard-firmware-flaw-hackers-drain-70-million-bitcoin.html"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Hardware Bitcoin Wallet Bug Puts Years of BTC Seeds at Risk — Bitcoin Foundation","type":"news_article","url":"https://bitcoinfoundation.org/news/crimes-and-fraud-news/coldcard-hardware-bitcoin-wallet-bug/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Coldcard bug, weak seeds generated since 2021: Funds are at risk, move them now — Atlas21","type":"news_article","url":"https://atlas21.com/coldcard-bug-weak-seeds-generated-since-2021-funds-are-at-risk-move-them-now/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Coldcard Wallet Bitcoin Theft — Legal Options for Victims — Stoltmann Law","type":"other","url":"https://stoltmannlaw.com/coldcard-wallet-bitcoin-theft-claims/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Galaxy Research on X — attacker addresses reported to federal investigators","type":"social_media","url":"https://x.com/glxyresearch/status/2083705254172864861"},{"credibility":3,"name":"NVK public apology and statement on X","type":"social_media","url":"https://x.com/nvk/status/2083216713693151552"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Over 1300 bitcoins reportedly stolen in ColdCard hacks — Traders Union","type":"news_article","url":"https://tradersunion.com/news/market-voices/show/2872461-fbi-coldcard-bitcoin-hack/"}],"summary":"A firmware integration error introduced into Coldcard hardware wallets in March 2021 silently routed seed generation from the intended STM32 hardware random-number generator to a deterministic software PRNG, reducing effective entropy to as low as 40 bits on Mk3 devices. Beginning July 30, 2026, one or more attackers exploited the weakened entropy offline—without ever accessing victim devices—and drained at least 1,367 BTC (~$88.6 million) across 4,585 addresses in three identified attack waves over roughly 72 hours. Coinkite released patched firmware on July 31, 2026, but the fix cannot repair seeds already generated on vulnerable firmware versions.","timeline":[{"date":"2021-03-01","event":"Commit b18723dd introduced into Coldcard firmware, changing seed generation from the STM32 hardware RNG (`ckcc.rng_bytes`) to a deterministic software PRNG fallback (`ngu.random.bytes`).","source":"Block Engineering Blog","source_url":"https://engineering.block.xyz/blog/predictable-rng-fallback-and-32-bit-reseed-in-coldcard-firmware"},{"date":"2021-03-17","event":"Vulnerable firmware version 4.0.0 released publicly for Mk3 devices, beginning a five-year exposure window.","source":"Block Engineering Blog","source_url":"https://engineering.block.xyz/blog/predictable-rng-fallback-and-32-bit-reseed-in-coldcard-firmware"},{"date":"2026-07-30","event":"Wave 1: Attacker drained 1,082.65 BTC (~$70.2 million) from 1,196 Coldcard-generated addresses in a 41-minute window (01:10–01:51 UTC), spanning six Bitcoin blocks, without physical access to any device.","source":"CoinDesk","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/08/01/how-bitcoin-cold-wallets-lost-usd70-million-in-an-attack-that-never-touched-the-devices"},{"date":"2026-07-31","event":"Wave 2 identified, occurring approximately 27 hours after Wave 1, sharing identical transaction fingerprints (30 sat/vB hardcoded fees, same batching patterns), suggesting a single operator. Total losses revised to approximately $75 million.","source":"Crypto Times","source_url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/08/01/coldcard-hack-hits-75m-after-alleged-second-attack-wave-galaxy-research/"},{"date":"2026-07-31","event":"Coinkite CEO NVK issued a public apology accepting full responsibility. Coinkite released emergency patched firmware at 9:33 a.m. EDT: v4.2.0 (Mk2/Mk3), v5.6.0 (Mk4/Mk5), v1.5.0Q (Q). Coinkite advisory states existing seeds on vulnerable firmware cannot be repaired by the update.","source":"CoinDesk / Coinkite Official Blog","source_url":"https://blog.coinkite.com/coldcard-mk3-seed-generation-warning/"},{"date":"2026-08-01","event":"Coinkite expanded advisory to include Mk4, Mk5, and Q firmware versions. Block Engineering published detailed technical disclosure identifying commit b18723dd as the root cause and quantifying entropy reduction per device model.","source":"Block Engineering Blog / Coinkite Official Blog","source_url":"https://engineering.block.xyz/blog/predictable-rng-fallback-and-32-bit-reseed-in-coldcard-firmware"},{"date":"2026-08-01","event":"Galaxy Research reported approximately 600 addresses believed to hold stolen funds to federal investigators, industry compliance firms, and cross-industry cyber investigators.","source":"Galaxy Research on X","source_url":"https://x.com/glxyresearch/status/2083705254172864861"},{"date":"2026-08-02","event":"Wave 3 identified by Galaxy Research: 207.73 BTC drained from 1,912 additional addresses, exhibiting divergent methodology (P2WSH outputs, individual destination addresses, six victims per batch, default derivation paths only). Total confirmed losses revised to 1,367.05 BTC (~$88.6 million) across 4,585 addresses. All stolen funds remained unmoved in attacker-controlled addresses.","source":"CoinDesk / Crypto Times","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/08/02/bitcoin-cold-wallet-attack-spreads-to-4-500-addresses-as-losses-near-usd89-million"}]},"v":1}

   Verify offline (run on your own machine)

   python -m src.verify_decision 1be6b22f-2a66-4e71-9a50-b782bad4b12fcopy