Coinkite, the maker of the Coldcard hardware wallet, has confirmed a five-year-old bug that could let attackers guess bitcoin wallet keys, a flaw tied to how affected devices generated their seeds.
Coinkite, the maker of the Coldcard hardware wallet, has confirmed a five-year-old bug that could let attackers guess bitcoin wallet keys, a flaw tied to how affected devices generated their seeds.
Coinkite, the maker of the Coldcard hardware wallet, has confirmed a five-year-old bug that could let attackers guess bitcoin wallet keys, a flaw tied to how affected devices generated their seeds. The Coldcard bug centers on bitcoin wallet keys, not on price or market activity, and Coinkite has acknowledged it publicly rather than leaving it as an unverified rumor.
WHAT TO KNOW
The issue is documented in a Coldcard seed-generation warning published by Coinkite, which addresses how certain devices produced their wallet seeds. Coinkite is the company behind the Coldcard line of hardware wallets. For related coverage, see Best Bitcoin Hardware Wallets in 2026.
The confirmed concern is a security defect in key generation, not a market event. Coldcard is a self-custody device marketed for its resistance to physical and remote attacks, a design pitch detailed in earlier coverage of the Coldcard Mk5 and why it is hard to hack. For related coverage, see Schwab Plans Spot Bitcoin, Ether Trading Launch in First Half of 2026.
A hardware wallet’s security rests on the secrecy and randomness of the seed that generates its private keys. If that seed is predictable, an attacker who can guess it can reconstruct the keys and move the funds they control. For related coverage, see Lucky Independent Bitcoin Miner Nets $210,000 BTC Reward.
That is the reported capability at the heart of this bug: it made guessing wallet keys possible on affected units. What is confirmed is the guessability risk itself; broader assumptions about scope beyond that should not be read into the vendor’s acknowledgement. For related coverage, see SEC Pauses Nasdaq's Bitcoin Index Options After CME Challenge.
The practical exposure falls on bitcoin holders who set up affected Coldcard devices and relied on their seed generation. Users comparing options can review the field in a roundup of the best bitcoin hardware wallets in 2026.
The flaw is described as roughly five years old, which widens the window during which affected devices may have generated weak seeds. A long-lived bug raises the question of how many wallets were set up while it was present.
Reporting has tied the flaw to real losses. CoinDesk described a Coldcard exploit that had drained roughly $38 million so far, framing it as a test of confidence in self-custody.
For Coldcard owners, the measured takeaway is to check whether their device and setup fall within the affected population and to wait for Coinkite’s confirmed remediation guidance before assuming their keys are safe. The evidence here supports caution about exposure, not conclusions about any specific wallet.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.
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