Bitcoin ETF inflows surge after Coldcard hack, but link is unclear: Bloomberg analyst
US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a notable inflow streak over the past week, with BlackRock’s IBIT, Fidelity’s FBTC, Bitwise’s BITB, ARK 21Shares’ ARKB, and Defiance’s MSTR-linked ETF taking in about $620 million since the weekend. The timing followed a Coldcard wallet exploit that reportedly drained over $116 million from more than 5,200 addresses, fueling speculation that some investors may be shifting away from self-custody. The incident renewed concerns that hardware wallets can still be exposed to firmware and software flaws, and intensified the debate over whether direct Bitcoin ownership is worth the operational risk compared with regulated ETFs. Changpeng Zhao argued centralized exchanges may now be “statistically safer” than self-custody, while noting self-custody losses are harder to track. AI-assisted attacks are also making crypto security risks more acute.
