Hackers Hid a Spy Chip in Ledger Wallets to Steal $93M | CoinDesk Daily

Uyen Truong (0:00)

Hackers hit a spy chip inside Ledger Wallets to drain $93 million. And South Korea blocks 27 crypto exchanges. This is CoinDesk Daily.

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Ledger says covert hardware was implanted inside some of its wallet devices sold by a Southeast Asian reseller called CryptoBilis. The spy chip sat inside the device enclosure. When a user set up the wallet and the screen displayed their 24-word recovery phrase, the implant read the words and transmitted them. On-chain researchers estimate losses of up to $93.2 million across more than 300 wallets, with Tether freezing 10 million tied to the theft. South Korea is blocking access to 27 unregistered crypto exchange websites including KuCoin, BitMart, and Mexi. The country's Financial Intelligence Unit says regulators can now block sites as soon as they detect unregistered activity without waiting for a court ruling or proof that customers lost money. The crackdown comes as money flees domestic platforms. An estimated $110 billion in crypto has left South Korean exchanges in 2025 as rules tighten. And Tom Lee says the next crypto bull market could be fueled by inherited wealth. The Bitmine chairman points to IRS and Fundstrat estimates that between $1.5 and $2 trillion could change hands from 2026 through 2028 He argues younger heirs have a higher risk appetite for crypto inequities. Lee's remarks came alongside Bitmine's latest update. The firm picked up another 12,500 ether last week, lifting its holdings to about 4.9 percent of ETH's total supply. Get more updates on coindesk.com. Want trusted crypto research? Check out the stack, Grayscale's blog. Visit grayscale.com/thestack.

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