SCS

Blockchain || Smart Contract || Portfolio || Cryptocurrency News, Research & Analysis. bitcoin, ETH & Solana news.

MY TWEETS ARE NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE.

[SCS @SmartChainStack]

@coldstar_sol Keep building

[SCS @SmartChainStack]

@Spigg1115 Cz journey in life has taught him humility and patience.

[SCS @SmartChainStack]

Backpack: Armani Ferrante
describes Solana as an API for finance and parallel economy that imports traditional market structures like NYSE and NASDAQ trading, not limited to crypto-native assets.

[Solana @solana]

Armani Ferrante, CEO of @Backpack, on why Solana is becoming the aggregation layer for everything

“Solana has always been marching towards something much bigger than any single exchange. You could call it an API for all of finance, or a parallel economy and financial system. But I think the end state is Solana as the aggregation layer for everything."

"It’s all about importing market structure. Not just crypto-native assets, but the entire economy, because the network effect is money.”

@armaniferrante @KyleSamani

[SCS @SmartChainStack]

A 5-minute video tutorial showing hands-on steps to safely pry open a Ledger Nano X hardware wallet and inspect its internal circuit board for tampering.

[Bitcoin News @BitcoinNewsCom]

How to Safely Disassemble a Ledger Nano X and Check for Signs of Tampering

[Bitcoin News @BitcoinNewsCom]

Opening up a Ledger to make sure it hasn’t been tampered with 👀

[SCS @SmartChainStack]

Ledger confirms an unauthorized hardware implant in at least one device sold via Southeast Asian reseller CryptoBilis, linked to an investigation of $70M-$93M in reported wallet drains across hundreds of addresses on multiple blockchains.

[Ledger Support @Ledger_Support]

Situation Update: Ledger can confirm that one of the impacted users’ devices contained an unauthorized hardware implant. Ledger is reaching out to impacted users as part of the ongoing investigation. If you have information regarding the investigation, please reach out to Ledger’s bounty program: [email protected]. As a measure of precaution CryptoBilis confirmed it has ceased sales of all hardware wallet inventory until the investigation is concluded. Ledger is in active communication with CryptoBilis on next steps.

Ledger is working with the appropriate authorities to bring the bad actors to justice, and thanks @SEAL_911 for their collaborative support on the investigation. We have no indication that Ledger’s security infrastructure, systems or services have been compromised. As a reminder, Ledger recommends users who purchased a Ledger device from this reseller to not initiate set up if they have not yet done so. If you have set up your Ledger device, consider moving assets to a new Ledger signer (with a new seed).

Security is a constantly evolving landscape; Ledger is continuously adding security mitigations and is working on further, enhanced anti-tampering solutions.

Scammers often try to take advantage of incidents like this. Rely only on official Ledger channels for updates, and remember: Ledger will never ask for your 24-word recovery phrase.

For assistance or questions, contact Ledger customer support through our official channels: https://t.co/PeTo6Z7l84

[exsiway @exsiway_]

so about the $86m ledger drain. everyone’s screaming “ledger got hacked” again. i spent the evening digging and it’s dumber and scarier than that

there’s a shop in malaysia called cryptobilis that sells hardware wallets. ledger has it listed as an official authorized reseller since at least 2022, for malaysia, indonesia and the philippines. legit shop, real devices, years of normal customers

this spring the founders sell it. the deal comes with an NDA: they can’t tell anyone about the sale until october 19

by august the company registry shows one owner with 100%. some guy from heilongjiang, china

the shop keeps running like nothing happened. the site, the name and the “authorized by ledger” badge all stay up

then on oct 8 @MagicalTux posts photos of a ledger he cracked open. hidden under the screen there’s an extra little board with an LTE modem and an eSIM. it just watches the display. you set up your wallet, your 24 words show up, and they get sent out over mobile data. ledger’s genuine check doesn’t catch it because the actual ledger chip is real. his device came from malaysia

https://t.co/vRuBM0xIfR

that post does 120k views

22 hours later someone sweeps everything. 203 BTC hits two addresses in literally one block. ~$58m USDT moves on tron in the same hour. i added up all the wallets: ~$91m

about 7 hours after that ledger says “we’re investigating” and asks cryptobilis to pause sales

cryptobilis is still on ledger’s site as an authorized reseller

to be fair, nobody has officially tied the new owner to the bugged devices yet, and ledger hasn’t confirmed how it happened. but read it as a business plan:

get authorized, sell real stuff for years, quietly sell the company under an NDA, keep the badge, ship devices that phone home, then drain everything the second someone notices

and was ledger even told the shop got sold? nobody’s said so

“authorized reseller” means ledger trusted whoever ran the shop back in 2022. says nothing about who runs it today

bought your hardware wallet anywhere but the manufacturer? open it up today, ledger literally has a guide for that. then move to a fresh seed on a device bought direct

wonder who’s going to answer for this: the chinese frontman from heilongjiang, the shop’s previous owners, or ledger itself

@Ledger clearly needs to keep a much closer eye on who they call official resellers, and take way more responsibility for who sells their devices and how

[SCS @SmartChainStack]

Yes, the core technical claims are true and directly evidence-based from the verified USDT smart contract source code.

Comparisons:

USDC (Circle) has blacklist/freeze functions that block transfers but does not have an equivalent owner-callable destroy function that zeros a holder’s balance and reduces total supply in the same way. Freezes are reversible in principle via unblacklist; destruction + reissue is a Tether-specific feature.

Bitcoin has no issuer-controlled blacklist, freeze, or destroy functions of this kind.

[Heidi @blockchainchick]

TETHER CAN DELETE YOUR BALANCE. IT'S WRITTEN INTO THE CODE.

Not freeze it. Delete it.

The USDT contract has a function called destroyBlackFunds. It has been there since the 2017 Ethereum deployment.

Here is what it does, in order. It checks that your address is already blacklisted. It reads your balance into a variable the developers named "dirtyFunds". It sets your balance to zero. It subtracts that amount from total supply. Then it logs the event.

No function can reverse it. Once it runs, that balance is gone forever.

The blacklist function names the address it targets "_evilUser". That is how the code sees you before anyone has proven anything.

Only Tether's owner multisig can call it, on Ethereum and on Tron. A court can't. A regulator can't. When a government wants your money, Tether is the one that executes.

Then comes step two. Tether mints the same amount fresh to whoever it chooses: a victim, a court address, a government address. Net supply change is zero. Your money just changed owners.

The DOJ described this exact process in a forfeiture case filed in Massachusetts in March 2025, over roughly $9,016,612 in USDT. Burn, then reissue.

USDC can block a wallet but can't burn the balance. Tether built the eraser in from the start.

They keep promising you there will be no CBDC.

It already exists. It runs on Tron and Ethereum, and it has an owner.

Bitcoin doesn't. Exit with Bitcoin.

[Coin Bureau @coinbureau]

HOT TAKE: 🇨🇳China's return to crypto could UNLOCK the next crypto SUPER CYCLE.

Solana Company (DAT) CEO Joseph Chee says the Chinese government is using Hong Kong as a 'testing ground' for crypto regulation as China explores ways to manage digital assets.

“It's HUGE... I think crypto is gonna go through another super cycle.”

[Lookonchain @lookonchain]

Another unlucky guy!

His old wallet had been safe for 8 years.

But a month ago, after more than 4 years of inactivity, he switched to a new wallet.

Then the #CryptoBillis #Ledger Drainer stole all 59 $ETH ($146.8K) from it.

https://t.co/hsAgRhQFXr

[Ash Crypto @AshCrypto]

This is really sad.

Someone bought 80 BTC at $65,500 in Q2 and was up $1.44 MILLION as Bitcoin rallied.

Last month, he bought a Ledger to keep it safe. Today, his wallet got drained, and he lost everything.

Imagine losing it all while trying to protect it.

[Lookonchain @lookonchain]

Many #Ledger users who bought their devices from reseller CryptoBillis have had their funds stolen, with losses totaling nearly $90M.

Stay safe!🚨

One user (TY24Ya) bought a Ledger device from CryptoBillis 3 weeks ago and deposited 7M $USDT into it.

Just 10 hours ago, all 7M $USDT was stolen, possibly the largest loss among the victims.

https://t.co/VARjqxL2Tn

[Bala 🧤 @BalaiBB]

they didn’t hack ledger. they didn’t exploit the code. they BOUGHT the company selling you the device. $86 million gone

a company called CryptoBilis was an authorized ledger reseller in southeast asia. trusted. legit. sold ledgers for years

a random chinese company quietly bought CryptoBilis from its malaysian owner

made the original owner sign a confidentiality agreement. he couldn’t tell anyone the company was sold

same brand name. same website. same “authorized reseller” badge. but different people behind it now

the new owners started opening every ledger device before shipping

soldered a tiny spy chip onto the board inside. repackaged it. sealed the box. shipped it

the device looked normal. felt normal. worked normal

but the spy chip was silently capturing your private keys the moment you set it up

your seed phrase was sent to the attacker before you even finished writing it down

hundreds of wallets across ethereum tron and bitcoin. all drained

the guy who lost $5.3 million said “i did everything right. no leverage. no memecoins. i stored my funds on a hardware wallet like we’re all told to”

he was right. he did everything right

except his device had a parasite inside it that he couldn’t see

ledger has now told CryptoBilis to stop all sales. told recent buyers NOT to set up their devices

mark karpelès posted photos of the implant. normal board on top. spy chip below

the most dangerous attack in crypto this year wasn’t a line of code

it was a business acquisition

[Bitcoin Archive @BitcoinArchive]

BREAKING: Mark Karpelès found a hidden SIM card inside a tampered Ledger hardware wallet.

"The implant was cleverly hidden where the screen's padding is supposed to be."

The device is allegedly linked to reseller 'CryptoBilis'.

🫡 @MagicalTux

[Richard Teng @_RichardTeng]

We're concerned by reports of significant losses affecting Ledger users, and our thoughts are with everyone impacted.

As investigations continue, the focus must be on supporting affected users, tracing funds, and assisting recovery efforts wherever possible.

Security is a shared responsibility, and Binance stands ready to support the industry's collective efforts.

[Bitcoin Magazine @BitcoinMagazine]

BREAKING: Ledger reports loss of funds from users in South East Asia who purchased products from the reseller "CryptoBillis".

The situation is ongoing and users are urged to review Ledger's official updates.

[0xNobler @CryptoNobler]

🚨 BLACK SWAN ALERT

LEDGER HARDWARE WALLETS JUST GOT HACKED FOR NEARLY $100,000,000.00!

THE EXPLOIT IS HARDWARE-BASED, AND THOUSANDS OF USERS ARE GETTING DRAINED FOR MILLIONS RIGHT NOW.

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE NEWS FOR BITCOIN AND CRYPTO...

[SCS @SmartChainStack]

@cz_binance I just wonder if all these unfortunate exploits could have been avoided. What solutions could all crypto smart minded developers could deployed to at least mitigate against this trends

[CZ 🔶 BNB @cz_binance]

Stay SAFU out there!

FWIW, I am not against hardware wallets, or self-custody. Different wallets/product for different use cases. All have different security implications and best practicies. YZiLabs invested in OneKey, SafePal (hardware wallets), TrustWallet (mobile), etc.

[SCS @SmartChainStack]

Really heartbreaking experience 💔

[Edward @EdwardTWinz]

I lost $1,000,000 in crypto today.

I bought a Ledger because I wanted to protect my money.
Kept the device hidden.
Thought I could finally stop worrying.

Then my wallet got drained.

Imagine opening your wallet and realizing a million dollars is gone.

You refresh.
Check again.
Try to convince yourself it’s a display error.

It isn’t.

Now I’m reading reports of other Ledger users losing funds.
Ledger is investigating devices sold through a reseller.
An investigator claims more than $86 million in suspected thefts.

The cause is still unconfirmed.
I don’t know whether my loss is connected.

But I know what it feels like to trust something with your savings and watch that trust disappear.

We spend years telling people about financial freedom.
Self-custody.
Being your own bank.

Today, I just wish I had a bank to call.

Someone to freeze a transfer.
A fraud department.
A dispute process.
Even a chance.

Instead, I’m staring at transactions and wondering whether I’ll ever see that money again.

This goes far beyond a bad trade.
You can accept a market loss when you chose the risk.

How do you accept this?

Tomorrow is October 10.
I was worried about what the market might do.

Never imagined my worst day would arrive before it.

I thought a hardware wallet would give me peace of mind.

Right now, I don’t know what I trust anymore.

Fuck this.