Coldcard urges users to move bitcoin as active wallet exploit continues
The maker confirmed the flaw behind roughly $114 million in losses remains live, with specific models and firmware still exposed.
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Summary
- Developers of the Coldcard bitcoin wallet are urging affected users to urgently move their funds as an ongoing exploit has drained as much as $114 million from self-custodied wallets.
- The vulnerability affects certain Mk3 devices set up on firmware 4.0.1 or later and Mk4, Mk5 and Q devices on older firmware, while wallets created using the dice-roll option are considered safe.
- The flaw, dormant in firmware since 2021, allows attackers to guess poorly randomized seed keys and drain funds, even as bitcoin’s price has remained near $63,800 despite the warning.
The warning is not precautionary. CoinDesk reported Monday that a possible fourth wave of sweeps ran through the day, taking roughly 449 BTC from 709 addresses on Galaxy Research’s revised count and lifting cumulative losses from about $89 million to as much as $114 million.
The flaw traces to firmware that has sat dormant since 2021, as CoinDesk wrote Friday, meaning one where a single key controls the funds with no second approval required stays at risk until its holder acts.
As such, the risk is confined to specific devices and firmware. Owners of the Mk3, Coldcard’s 2019 model, should move their funds now if the wallet was set up on firmware 4.0.1 or later.
