Galaxy Research: Bitcoin losses related to the Coldcard vulnerability have risen to $70 million

Odaily reported that Galaxy Research stated on Friday that over 1,000 BTC from nearly 1,200 addresses have been moved, valued at approximately $70 million, with the transactions believed to be linked to a vulnerability affecting Coldcard hardware wallets.

Earlier, Coldcard manufacturer Coinkite issued a warning on Thursday about an ongoing issue with seed phrases generated by Coldcard Mk3 devices. Out of caution, the company reminded all users who generated seed phrases using Mk3 devices with firmware version 4.0.1, released in March 2021, or later, that their funds may be at risk.

Subsequently, Coinkite expanded the scope of its risk alert to include certain firmware versions of Mk4, Mk5, and Coldcard Q, and released emergency firmware updates for all affected models.

Coinkite CEO Rodolfo Novak (also known as NVK) apologized on Friday and stated that the company takes "full responsibility" for the firmware vulnerability, acknowledging that internal review processes failed to identify the issue.

Novak also suggested that the vulnerability may have been discovered with the help of artificial intelligence, noting that this incident reflects a "sobering reality under the new AI paradigm." He warned that AI-assisted code review could identify potential vulnerabilities faster than experienced security experts, while also making it easier for attackers to exploit weaknesses in public code.