Coldcard hack sparks record Bitcoin activity

Following the hack of Coldcard hardware wallets, activity among small Bitcoin holders increased sharply, with the volume of transfers reaching levels not seen in almost four years, analysts at CryptoQuant reported.

The largest surge in activity occurred among Bitcoin owners with a balance of less than 1 BTC. On July 31, the volume of transfers from such addresses reached 39,600 BTC.

The day before, unknown persons used an automated operation to withdraw 594 bitcoins from approximately 500 Coldcard cold wallets from Coinkite.

The activity of small holders of the asset was close to the level that was observed during the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022. Small crypto investors then moved 39,900 bitcoins. CryptoQuant analysts said that “small holders have not moved funds on this scale in almost four years.”

The massive movement of coins led to an increase in the load on the network of the first cryptocurrency. At the moment, the number of active addresses exceeded 1 million, with the usual level being about 600,000, CryptoQuant specialists clarified.

Earlier, Galaxy Research analysts reported a new wave of bitcoin thefts from Coldcard hardware wallets. Security researchers recorded the movement of approximately 400 BTC from 462 addresses to approximately 200 new addresses that may be associated with criminals.