Bitcoin’s recently active supply almost doubled in just seven days as users moved coins following the Coldcard hardware-wallet exploit, despite the cryptocurrency’s price remaining largely stable near $64,000.
About 797,408 BTC had changed hands during the seven days to 4 August, up from 403,102 BTC on 28 July. The increase of approximately 394,306 BTC represented a 98% rise and marked the highest seven-day active supply recorded in 2026, according to data from Newhedge.io cited by Bitcoin.com News.
The surge in movement came as attackers exploited a firmware vulnerability affecting Coinkite’s Coldcard wallets. The incident is estimated to have led to the theft of about 1,596 BTC from roughly 7,300 addresses when K33 published its latest research.
K33 head of research Vetle Lunde described the broader market as “Textbook summer doldrums”, with subdued trading volumes, price volatility, open interest and exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows. Onchain activity was the notable exception.
Lunde said the acceleration in transfers was “very likely driven by the Coldcard attacks”. K33 characterised the response as “panic visible onchain”, with holders moving funds even as the wider market showed little reaction.
The Coldcard vulnerability was introduced into the company’s firmware in March 2021. It allowed some wallet seeds – the secret phrases that control access to bitcoin – to be generated with insufficient randomness. Attackers could then reconstruct predictable private keys offline and remotely drain affected single-signature addresses without needing to obtain the physical devices.
Coordinated sweeps began on 30 July and removed about 1,600 BTC, worth more than $100m at the time. A possible fourth wave has since taken the estimated total close to 2,000 BTC.
Coinkite issued emergency firmware updates and told users whose wallets may be exposed to move their funds. However, installing new firmware cannot fix a seed that was originally created using weak randomness. At-risk users must generate a secure replacement wallet and transfer their bitcoin before it is taken.
The sharp increase in active supply has not been accompanied by a comparable price move. Bitcoin fell from about $64,000 to the low-$63,000 range during the period covered, a decline of roughly 0.5%. It later returned above $64,000 and was up about 0.5% over the previous 24 hours.
That contrast suggests the transfers were not primarily driven by new buyers entering the market. Instead, the activity included suspected theft-related sweeps, defensive migrations to new wallets, internal transfers and preparations by holders who may be considering selling.
K33 said Bitcoin was trading within its narrowest 30-day high-to-low range since 2023, while realised volatility also remained low. At the same time, seven-day active supply moved into the top 10% of readings recorded against a rolling 365-day history.
Historically, similar bursts of activity have occurred close to both local market highs and lows. The indicator therefore points to heightened stress and repositioning, but does not establish which direction the market will take next.
Some of the coins appear to have been sent to centralised exchanges. In a post on X, Sani of Timechainindex.com said crypto “Exchanges received a net of 22,052 BTC since the Coldcard hack on Friday.” Those platforms may have been used as temporary safe havens while users replaced vulnerable wallets, although sustained inflows can also increase potential selling pressure.
Bitcoin network activity remains elevated
Bitcoin’s overall transaction activity was already strong before the Coldcard incident. Blockchair.com figures reviewed by Bitcoin.com News show that the network processed 9.28 million transactions across the two complete weeks from 22 July to 4 August.
That equated to an average of about 662,577 transactions per day. The daily average rose from 650,417 in the first week to 674,738 in the second, an increase of 3.7%.
The busiest day was 26 July, when 758,094 transactions were recorded. It was followed by 24 July with 736,287 and 1 August with 734,264. Daily activity exceeded 600,000 transactions on 11 of the 14 days.
On 19 July, shortly before the latest Coldcard exploit, Bitcoin recorded 898,862 transactions – its third-highest daily total. The record remains 927,010 transactions on 23 April 2024, followed by 910,083 on 8 September 2024.
The 19 July figure also ranked ahead of 23 June 2026, when 862,979 transactions were processed, and 21 July 2024, when the total reached 859,629. The timing indicates the network was already experiencing unusually high usage before emergency wallet migrations began.
Onchain data from Btcparser.com, examined by Bitcoin.com News, also identified activity from older dormant addresses. Between 30 July and the latest entry on 5 August, 39 such addresses transferred a combined 1,486.09044782 BTC, worth more than $95m.
One address created in 2010 moved 50 BTC in a single transaction. Two addresses dating from 2011 transferred 125.00004374 BTC, while five addresses created in 2013 moved 620.00100547 BTC. Five 2014 addresses transferred 285.51923857 BTC.
The other movements included 19.0395 BTC from two addresses created in 2015, 102.19357827 BTC from 10 addresses created in 2016 and 284.33708177 BTC from 14 addresses created in 2017.
The 2017 addresses generated the largest number of individual transfers. However, the 2013 group moved the greatest amount overall, mainly because one address transferred 500 BTC on 3 August. The two 2011 wallets moved slightly more than 125 BTC, while the 2014 total narrowly exceeded the amount transferred by the more active 2017 group.
The data does not establish that every dormant transfer was linked to the Coldcard vulnerability. Its timing, however, adds to a wider pattern of stolen coins being moved, users shifting funds to emergency replacement wallets, rising exchange balances and a near doubling in recently active Bitcoin supply.
The next important signals will be whether the theft-related sweeps continue, whether exchange inflows reverse and whether the jump in active supply eventually pushes Bitcoin out of its unusually narrow price range. Bitcoin is holding close to $64,000 after a week that also included the $116m Coldcard wallet hack and fresh selling by Strategy.
