Coldcard Exploit Drives $247M July Crypto Thefts Across DeFi

Crypto thefts totaled $247.4 million in July, the second-worst month for digital asset losses in 2026, driven largely by a widespread exploit targeting Coldcard hardware wallets.

Hackers stole at least $100 million in Bitcoin from 7,300 Coldcard wallets across three confirmed attack waves. Galaxy Digital identified a suspected fourth wave that could push total losses from the exploit to approximately $130 million. DefiLlama's hack tracker estimates Coldcard-specific losses at $115 million.

July's total surpassed the $75 million stolen in June and $60 million in May. Only April's $644 million exceeded the month's losses.

Beyond Coldcard, multiple DeFi protocols and infrastructure components suffered breaches. Bonzo Lend lost $9 million in a lending protocol hack. AFX, an Arbitrum-based perpetual exchange, suffered a $24 million theft. The Verus Ethereum Bridge saw $7.5 million stolen through a cross-chain exploit, impacting interoperability trust and bridge liquidity. SecondFi, a Cardano-based wallet, lost $2.6 million.

The full scope of the Coldcard vulnerability remains unclear. Investigators have not determined total affected users or whether the exploit targeted specific firmware versions or device batches.

Crypto thefts totaled $247.4 million in July, the second-worst month for digital asset losses in 2026, driven largely by a widespread exploit targeting Coldcard hardware wallets.

July's total surpassed the $75 million stolen in June and $60 million in May. Only April's $644 million exceeded the month's losses.

The full scope of the Coldcard vulnerability remains unclear. Investigators have not determined total affected users or whether the exploit targeted specific firmware versions or device batches.