Market Pulse: Coldcard Attacker Stole $30M in 10 Minutes by Targeting Big Wallets

Latest reporting indicates that chainalysis found that the Coldcard attacker stole roughly $30 million within 10 minutes after prioritizing the largest wallets.

The $38 million-plus sweep reached 500 wallets and exposed lasting risks for seeds created on vulnerable firmware.

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis revealed on July 31 that the attacker targeted high-value Coldcard hardware wallets early, rapidly increasing the total amount stolen.

The firm found that three of the 10 largest affected wallets held at least 10 BTC, worth approximately $636,000 during the analysis.

One victim lost about $1.8 million, while the cumulative value taken climbed toward $30 million during the operation’s first 10 minutes.

The ordering suggested that the attacker had examined the available wallet population before beginning the systematic sweep.

Chainalysis reported: “This pattern suggests that the attacker studied the victim wallet population before proceeding.” Over approximately 25 minutes, the attacker drained 500 distinct wallets, producing a sharp increase in stolen value before expanding across smaller balances.

Chainalysis used its Reactor investigation platform to examine the flow of funds, victim addresses, and concentration among the largest losses.