Trump Establishes Bitcoin Reserve as Hackers Steal Nearly $90 Million

President Trump has signed an executive order to establish a government reserve of Bitcoin. The move comes as security researchers warn that a software flaw in the Coldcard bitcoin storage device may have allowed hackers to steal nearly $89 million from over 1,196 digital wallets.

The vulnerability, discovered by Galaxy Research, affects certain versions of the Coldcard wallet and allows attackers to potentially figure out recovery phrases used for accessing the wallet. The issue was first reported on July 30 when a suspected wave of attacks drained over $70 million in just 41 minutes.

Coinkite, the company behind the Coldcard device, has since released a software update to prevent new wallets from being affected but warns that users who created recovery phrases using vulnerable software must generate a brand-new phrase and move their funds into a newly secured wallet. The company's CEO, Rodolfo Novak, apologized for the issue and urged customers to act immediately.

Block emphasized that none of its own products or customers are affected by the vulnerability, but warned users who created recovery phrases using affected software to take precautions and create a new phrase as soon as possible. The company's security team worked with anonymous researchers and received reports from Coldcard users before publishing their findings.