Natalie Brunell's Coin Stories

Alex Thorn: Tracking the Stolen Bitcoin and the "Red Team" Racing to Find More Bug

Natalie Brunell's Coin Stories

Show Notes

More than 1,700 bitcoins have been drained from Coldcard wallets belonging to people who did everything right when it comes to self-custody. Alex Thorn, Head of Firmwide Research at Galaxy Digital, has been tracing those coins on-chain since the second day of the attack, working directly with victims. He joins me with the fullest accounting of the hack that exists anywhere: how much was actually taken, where that Bitcoin is sitting right now, and what the people who took it have and haven't done with it since. In this episode: • Where the stolen Bitcoin is sitting right now and how many waves of attacks there have been • What Alex expects the hackers who took it to do next • How could this seed generation flaw stay hidden for five years? • The volunteer "Red Team" effort that formed overnight, and what it's turned up so far • The one thing every victim should do today, whether or not they ever see their coins again • His read on the failed BIP 110 fork, and what he'd say to the people who backed it Follow Alex Thorn on X https://x.com/intangiblecoins - his DMs are open to help victims ---- Order Natalie's new book "Bitcoin is For Everyone," a simple introduction to Bitcoin and what's broken in our current financial system: https://amzn.to/3WzFzfU ---- Borrow against your Bitcoin without selling it. Ledn offers Bitcoin-backed loans built for serious holders, with rates that get lower as your loan size increases. With Ledn's custodied loan product, your Bitcoin is held in custody and not lent out. Ledn has operated through multiple market cycles without a loss of client assets and publishes Proof of Reserves so you can verify what they hold. Get 0.25% off your first loan at ledn.io/natalie. Terms apply — see the site for details. ---- Bitdeer Technologies Group (NASDAQ: BTDR) powers AI and Bitcoin mining infrastructure with 3 GW of secured global energy — and owns the entire stack, from equipment manufacturing to data centers to proprietary orchestration software. Learn more at https://www.bitdeer.com. ---- Abundant Mines is a fully-managed Bitcoin mining in the U.S. You own the miners. You keep 100% of the Bitcoin. Voted #1 mining company by peers. Get 1 month of free hosting: AbundantMines.com/Natalie ---- Natalie's Bitcoin Product Partners: • Speed is my go-to Bitcoin Lightning wallet! Send, receive, or swap stablecoins and digital gold into Bitcoin in one app. Run a business? Speed powers Bitcoin payments for Steak 'n Shake, and it can do the same for you. Download at https://speed.app/natalie and use code COINSTORIES10 for 5,000 free sats after your first transaction. • Download Bitkey Today and use my promo code STORIES to get 10% off the new Bitkey. This episode has been sponsored by Bitkey: https://bitkey.world/STORIES • Master Bitcoin self-custody and gain peace of mind with 1-on-1 training: https://www.thebitcoinway.com/natalie?utm_source=partner-natalie&utm_medium=podcast • With BitcoinIRA, you can invest in bitcoin 24/7 inside a tax-advantaged IRA. Choose a Traditional IRA to defer taxes, or a Roth IRA for tax-free withdrawals later. Take control of your future with BitcoinIRA: https://www.bitcoinira.com/natalie ---- Natalie's Upcoming Events: • The best time to plan for Bitcoin 2027 is right now. Early bird tickets are live — grab the lowest pricing available and use code HODL for 10% off: https://tickets.b.tc/event/bitcoin-2027?promoCodeTask=apply&promoCodeInput=HODL ---- Extra Services to Consider: • One of the best decisions I made for both my heath and my bank account was joining CrowdHealth years ago. I never spend more than $200 on health coverage through my CrowdHealth plan and all my health events have been crowd-funded. Get started with a discounted plan at my link. : www.joincrowdhealth.com/natalie ---- Disclaimer: The News Block and Coin Stories are for educational and entertainment purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. Nothing discussed in this episode is a reco

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