Coldcard exploit rattles BTC as solo miners win ~$200k blocks
A solo Bitcoin miner mined block 960,804 early Monday, earning a reward of 3.157 BTC (about $199,300). The miner’s specific hardware was not disclosed. The win follows a similar solo strike three weeks earlier: block 957,382 mined with a single Bitaxe device, netting 3.1382 BTC (around $200,000 at the time).
The positive miner story lands amid wider stress from the ongoing Coldcard hardware wallet exploit. Small BTC holders tied to Coldcard losses remain frustrated, and on-chain data over the weekend suggested movement of long-held coins. CryptoQuant reported an increase in sending addresses to the highest levels since early 2024. Exchange reserves rose to 2.718 million BTC from 2.706 million BTC on July 30, the day the incident began.
Glassnode disputed a direct “to exchanges” narrative, saying holders appear to be migrating to new wallets rather than selling via exchanges. Separately, rising U.S. Treasury yields—including mortgage rates—adds a risk-off headwind for crypto.
Traders are also watching trend signals: Strategy’s large holding is tracking the 200-week moving average, but BTC is currently trading below it, with recent bearish crossovers of the 50- and 100-week averages suggesting downside pressure.
Bearish
Despite a standout solo Bitcoin mining payout (~$200k), the dominant trading relevance is the Coldcard exploit fallout. When wallet-compromise incidents lead to increased sending activity and higher exchange reserves, traders typically anticipate more sell pressure, even if some holders are merely migrating to new wallets. CryptoQuant’s data (spiking sending addresses and rising exchange reserves) can raise near-term liquidation/sell expectations.
At the same time, technical indicators in the article skew negative: BTC trading below the 200-week moving average and bearish 50/100-week crossovers historically align with weaker rallies and slower demand. Combined with rising Treasury yields (a common risk-off driver), the setup resembles other “security incident + macro tightening + bearish trend” sequences that often pressure spot and derivatives in the short term.
Longer term, if migration stabilizes and exchange inflows don’t translate into sustained net selling, the negative impulse may fade. But based on the current flow indicators and trend signals, the market impact is more likely bearish in the near term.