Coldcard Hack Highlights Risks of Self-Custody in Cryptocurrency
A long-time Bitcoin holder named Atlas Phoenix BTC recently lost his entire stash of savings in minutes after falling victim to the Coldcard hack. The hack, which occurred in July 2026, affected over $100 million worth of Bitcoin and was caused by a firmware bug that had existed since 2021. The bug allowed attackers to guess users' seed phrases and steal their funds.
Atlas Phoenix BTC, who held onto his Bitcoin for 13 years, said he relied on the Coldcard device to generate a secure seed phrase instead of adding his own randomness. This was despite Coinkite's recommendation to mix in manual dice rolls when creating a wallet. The vulnerability remained in released firmware for about five years before anyone found it.
The community response helped make an otherwise devastating experience more bearable, according to Atlas Phoenix BTC. He said that losing his Bitcoin didn't change what he believes about the cryptocurrency and plans to start accumulating again from zero.