Criminals steal an estimated $90M in crypto using tampered hardware wallets
Tampered hardware wallets were tied to an estimated $90 million in crypto taken, with the incident framed as a supply-chain security problem. Ledger then unveiled an $849 Atom wallet device only days after an $86 million draining hack and the suspension of multiple resellers, drawing criticism online over the timing.
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Hardware-wallet users and the wider crypto sector are the ones likely to notice this immediately, because one piece ties tampered devices to an estimated $90 million in stolen crypto. That makes device handling and trust in wallet hardware part of the day-to-day conversation around storing assets, even before any broader response is visible. (per cryptobriefing.com)
In practice, the Ledger episode shows that a product launch can still go ahead even after a major hack, while the company also suspended multiple resellers. The new device announcement did not stop the earlier security incident from being discussed, and the criticism centered on when the launch happened rather than on a change in what the device does.
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Thefts of a similar size
| When | What happened | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| 5.2 years ago | Liquid · Wallet stolen incident | $91.3M |
| 1.3 years ago | Nobitex incident | $90M |
| 2.3 years ago | BtcTurk incident | $90M |
| 5.0 years ago | Mirror incident | $90M |
| 2.9 years ago | Heco Bridge incident | $86.6M |
4200 incidents stored · 82 were as large as this one or larger ($90M)