Weekly news roundup covering regulatory moves (CFTC prediction markets, France stablecoin tax, South Korea exchange bans, Russia P2P BTC ban), infrastructure updates (Uniswap upgrades to OP Enterprise, DTCC-Chainlink collateral chain, Ethereum private stablecoin proposal, Injective SEC registration), and incidents (Ledger device tampering, Richard Heart arrest, USDC classified as first significant e-money token in EU).
DeFi & Yields ·
The crypto hardware wallet sector faces a growing supply-chain security threat following the discovery of unauthorized implants embedded in Ledger devices sold through legitimate resellers. A backdoor planted in Nano X wallets distributed by an authorized Malaysian reseller enabled thieves to steal approximately $102 million in crypto, with subsequent findings of similar implants in devices sold through European electronics retailers and in newer Ledger Flex and Stax models suggesting attackers have shifted tactics to target authorized distribution channels rather than unauthorized sellers.
The implants represent increasingly sophisticated iterations of hardware compromises first identified earlier in the year, according to researchers monitoring the devices. Attackers appear to be deliberately compromising wallets sold by authorized resellers to exploit customer trust and achieve wider distribution, marking a departure from previous campaigns that relied on fly-by-night unauthorized sellers. The coordinated heist affected at least 315 accounts tied to compromised CryptoBilis devices alone, with stolen assets including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tron now dispersed across various accounts, some of which have been flagged or frozen.
Several critical questions remain unresolved, including the full extent of the supply-chain compromise, the timeline of when implants were inserted into devices, and whether additional theft occurred from wallets purchased through other reseller channels. Ledger halted reseller sales following confirmation of the tampering, though the scope of affected inventory and the identity of the attackers remain unknown.