Reflections on the Coldcard Security Incident: Don't Put All Your BTC in One Basket ...

PANews, August 2 – Stacks co-founder Muneeb Ali shared his views on the Coldcard wallet incident, summarizing lessons in three areas: Bitcoin storage, quantum computing threats, and ecosystem security building.

Muneeb said the Coldcard incident is particularly regrettable because the affected users include many long-term Bitcoin holders with low risk appetite. They avoided high-risk investments, learned self-custody, and regarded Bitcoin as a long-term store of value, yet they were still impacted in the end.

On Bitcoin storage strategy, Muneeb believes the best future approach is asset diversification rather than concentrating all funds in a single solution, emphasizing “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” and recommending:

On the quantum computing threat, Muneeb said that once quantum computers break existing cryptographic systems in the future, Bitcoin users could experience a shock similar to “BTC from a cold wallet suddenly being transferred out.” He considers the quantum threat to be real, and the industry should prepare in advance rather than underestimate technological progress, especially as large language models (LLMs) accelerate scientific breakthroughs.

On Bitcoin ecosystem building, Muneeb noted that over the past few years some segments of the Bitcoin community became too insular, preventing many excellent security researchers and security institutions from getting involved. Many industry security experts are not even familiar with Coldcard, and top-tier security research organizations may not have conducted sufficient audits of its code. He believes Bitcoin companies should set aside ideological differences and collaborate with the broader security community, including professional security firms such as Trail of Bits.

Muneeb said the Bitcoin community should be more open to welcoming engineers from other crypto ecosystems, because top security talent does not exist only within the Bitcoin-only circle. “When Bitcoin gets hurt, the entire industry feels the pain.” He called on the industry to put aside internal debates, strengthen cooperation, and work together to build a more secure crypto ecosystem.