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Coldcard Firmware Bug Lets Attackers Reconstruct Seeds, Draining About $89M in Bitcoin

The flaw shows device firmware can erase offline wallet safety by producing predictable seed phrases.

Overview

  • On July 30 a rapid sweep tied by Galaxy Research to Coldcard weakness drained 1,082.65 BTC and two follow-up waves brought the observed total to about 1,367.05 BTC from roughly 4,585 addresses.
  • A March 2021 firmware integration error caused affected builds to fall back from the STM32 hardware random number generator to MicroPython’s Yasmarang pseudorandom routine, producing far less entropy in BIP‑39 seeds.
  • Coinkite released emergency firmware fixes on July 31 that stop future vulnerable seed creation but warned that seeds already generated remain insecure and must be replaced on patched devices.
  • The public disclosure triggered mass migrations that spiked small‑output transfers, raised daily active addresses, and sent some funds to exchanges and peel chains while investigators trace stolen coins.
  • The incident has hit long‑dormant cold‑storage holders, exposed limits of self‑custody, and follows recent research on weak PRNGs that together point to a wider class risk for wallet randomness.