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Small Bitcoin transfers surge as Coldcard hack losses approach $114M
Galaxy Research estimates a likely fourth theft wave could lift aggregate losses to about 1,816 BTC, with exchanges taking deposits alongside the transfers.
Bitcoin saw a surge in small-value transfers around July 31 as activity rose to levels last seen shortly after the FTX collapse, according to data cited by Decrypt. CryptoQuant data showed transfers of less than 1 BTC climbed to 39,600 BTC that day, near 39,900 BTC moved in the days after FTX failed, and daily active addresses jumped from 645,000 on July 30 to almost a million, the highest since December 2024.
Decrypt also linked the spike to concerns over Coldcard hardware wallets and a long-running firmware issue. The flaw, tied to a March 2021 firmware build error that left seed phrases drawn from too small a pool, has been associated with multiple theft waves, and CryptoQuant said deposits tied to sub-10 BTC transfers reached 7,300 BTC, about $459 million, on July 31, the most since February 6. Decrypt noted that Bitcoin price barely moved during the exchange deposits, suggesting holders were moving coins for safety rather than selling.
Galaxy Research flagged what it described as a likely fourth wave of thefts, which would take losses to about 1,816 BTC, near $114 million. In addition to the running total, Decrypt cited Galaxy Research analysis that described theft sweeps across consecutive blocks, with a fourth wave timeframe centered on Monday and involving hundreds of addresses.
Decrypt further reported that Galaxy Research previously logged three theft waves totaling 1,367 BTC across 4,585 addresses. It said no specific victim has yet been identified, according to Galaxy Research’s caveat in its monitoring.
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