Crypto Hacks Surge: $247 Million Stolen in July Amid Rise in Hardware Wallet Exploits

July was a disastrous month for cryptocurrency security, with an estimated $247.4 million stolen in various hacks and attacks.

This total is more than triple the roughly $75 million lost in June and four times May's $60 million, according to DefiLlama data.

The defining incident was the Coldcard hardware wallet exploit, which affected around 7,300 Bitcoin wallets and resulted in over $100 million in stolen BTC, with estimates ranging from $115 million to potentially as high as $130 million.

Coldcard is a hardware wallet designed to keep private keys offline, but the vulnerability was linked to how affected versions generated wallet recovery information, proving that cold storage can reduce exposure to online attacks but not eliminate risks originating inside wallet hardware or firmware.