MARA Opens Slipstream to Public Amid Coldcard Security Crisis

The MARA Foundation has made its Slipstream service available to anyone without requiring a client code. This move comes as thousands of Bitcoin holders are racing to transfer their funds off compromised Coldcard hardware wallets due to a firmware flaw from March 2021.

Slipstream allows users to send Bitcoin transactions directly to the MARA mining pool, bypassing the public network's waiting room called the mempool. This private submission path removes the risk of attackers spotting the transaction and building a competing one with a higher fee using the Replace-by-Fee (RBF) feature.

The timing is not coincidental as researchers disclosed the firmware flaw in Coldcard hardware wallets, which compromised about 500 addresses, draining around 594 BTC (close to $38 million at the time) worth of funds. Later estimates put the total closer to $70 million to $88 million as more compromised wallets came to light.

MARA first launched Slipstream on February 22, 2024, but it's now open to anyone without a client code requirement. Users still pay normal Bitcoin network fees and are responsible for keeping fees competitive to avoid transactions getting stuck in the private queue during a fee spike.