Bitcoin ETF Inflows Surge $1B Amid Coldcard Hack
Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen their best week in inflows since April, with $1 billion in net new capital pouring in. This surge in investment ranks as the third-strongest weekly inflow since the Silent IPO disrupted the market in October 2024.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that this development coincided with one of the most significant security incidents in Bitcoin's recent history: the Coldcard hardware wallet hack, which began on July 30. Several major Bitcoin ETFs have recorded net inflows for several straight sessions after the hack, totaling approximately $620 million.
While Balchunas described the timing as a 'hard to ignore' correlation, he stopped short of claiming a direct causal relationship between the hack and the increased investment in ETFs. The logic behind this trend is that investors may reconsider the risks of self-custody and rotate toward regulated, institutionally managed products like ETFs after a widely-regarded 'unhackable' hardware wallet was breached.
The theft itself has been staggering, with hackers exploiting a firmware vulnerability to steal 1,596 BTC across roughly 7,300 addresses in three confirmed attack waves. The largest single theft involved 1,159 BTC, which has not moved since consolidation.