Coldcard fallout shows up onchain as 210,000 bitcoin leaves old wallets
A significant amount of Bitcoin has moved out of long-term holder wallets following a security breach involving Coldcard hardware wallets. Analysts suggest this movement is a defensive migration to more secure storage rather than typical profit-taking.
Why it matters
Large-scale movements of Bitcoin by long-term holders can signal shifts in market sentiment and highlight the critical importance of custody security in the crypto ecosystem.
According to Glassnode data , roughly 210,000 BTC have moved out of long-term holder (LTH) wallets over the past week, the largest decline since December 2024, when bitcoin approached $100,000 for the first time.
Glassnode classifies long-term holders, or LTHs, as entities whose coins have remained dormant for approximately 155 days, or just over five months. This cohort is often considered the market’s “smart money” because its members tend to hold through short-term volatility. Long-term holder supply now stands at approximately 14.7 million BTC. Before the Coldcard incident, it was just under 15 million BTC, close to an all-time high.
Historically, heavy spending by long-term holders has coincided with periods of market strength or tops. Similar waves of distribution occurred around the market peaks of March 2021, March 2024 and December 2024, as experienced holders took profits into rising demand.
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