Total Chaos of Ledger Hack explained in simple way and here's what to do?
Hackers stole an estimated $102 Million dollars from more than 300 wallets across six blockchains as estimated by Bitquery. The theft came to light on Oct 9, 2026 and could be one of the biggest scams in crypto.
But before we dive in let's understand what is Ledger in short.
Ledger is a French Company which manufactures physical devices which are also known as hardware Wallets which store the secret keys to your crypto offline. Hard wallets are considered safer than crypto stored online as keys stays inside wallet and away from phone or computer so has less chances to get compromised. Ledger is one of the largest hardware wallet maker similar to rival such as Trezor.
Ledger problem wasn't the first problem in 2026:
Earlier this year on Jan 5 Ledger said customer information was exposed through a breach at Global-e, its payment processor. Names, contact details were compromised.
April 7-13: A Fake app impersonating Ledger Live app on Apple's App Store was linked to estimated $9.5 million stolen from over 50 victims. Coins include Bitcoin, Tron, Ripple, Solana etc, according to the Blockchains Investigator ZachXBT
In this article I'll explain the attack on Ledger devices sold through a reseller which directly affects its buyers in simple words.
Part A: What a seed phrase is
A seed phrase is the list of random words in sequence generated while creating the wallet. It can be 12 words or 24 words. Anyone who has these words are able to access the whole crypto wallet. So it is very important to store it safely.
Ledger's seed phrase consists of 24 words and it is shown during the device setup.
There a popular crypto slang "Not your keys, Not your coins" cause whoever hold the phrase or keys hold the money. They have the unrestricted access to the wallet.
Part B : What was different in October?
The three incident which took place in 2026 happened in three different ways, and the last one is the most worrisome because.
In January, the names and contact details were leaked although not directly through ledger but from it's partner's system. The risk wasn't the crypto wallet but the customers could be targeted by scams.
In April, the hackers tricked people into believing a fake app as official Ledger app where it asked users to type their recovering seed phrase to restore the wallet or verify the wallet. Here victims themselves handed over the seed phrase without knowing.
In October, the situation was most severe as the problem was inside its very own device Ledger was selling for security of crypto currency. User weren't tricked to hand over the phrases but the compromised device read the 24 word phrase and sent it to the attacker.
Compromised devices were not sold by Ledger itself but by its Authorized reseller CryptoBilis.
It is a Major Malaysian-based hardware crypto wallet reseller operating in Asia.
As it was authorized reseller of Ledger customer trusted and has s good reason to buy from them.
The tampered devices cleared the security checks because the attackers didn't change the main security system. Hence, the buyers had no easy way to tell that the devices were tampered.
Lets Dig Deep understanding how the hack happened.
Change of Ownership
CryptoBilis is a Major Malaysian based hardware wallet retailer but in March 2026 records shows ownership transferred to a Chinese national with registered address in Heilongjiang, holding 100% of shares from August 3.
The original co-founders have left the all operational roles.
What former founders say:
"They have handed over the operations in March to these Chinese National and had no access to their customer date or backend system since.
Those Chinese National allegedly made them sign an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) and it barred a joint public announcement."
CZ - Founder of Binance alleges that hackers acquired company and made them sign NDA to keep their mouth shut.
Below is the reference Tweet.
https://x.com/cz_binance/status/2109395636907032838
Lets get Full Timeline
March 2026: CryptoBilis ownership transfer begins (as per founders and records)
Aug 3: Records show 100% of the shares with new owner
Oct 9: Customers report drained wallets. Investigator Spector publishes theft address and estimates losses over $86 million.
Ledger confirms the investigation and asked Cryptobilis to stop the sales and shipments of devices
Oct 11: Ledger confirms multiple devices impacted and each of them involves CryptoBilis devices. Former founders issue their statement.
Oct 12: CZ allegations is reported and Tether freezes $10 Million USDT
Oct 13: Ledger explains a implant in device caused to send seed phrase to hackers
Oct 16: Bitquery estimated around $102 million stolen from 335 wallets.
Ledger has not confirmed the total loss and still under investigation.
How the hack happened. The chain of events
Customer buys the Ledger wallet from CryptoBilis and setup the device with 24 seed phrase.
The hidden chip in the hardware wallet reads the phrase and sends it to the attacker
Now with seed phrase attacker and now recover the crypto into another wallet.
Attacker withdraws the funds, and reportedly used service like Tornado Cash and Z cash to launder the coins to avoid trackability.
After confirming the hack ledger advices victims to move assets to a new signer with a new seed as previous seed is compromised and with the hacker.
What was the Ledger Response to the hack:
On Oct 9 Ledger said it is investigating the stolen funds reports and asked CryptoBilis pause shipment the sales and shipment of devices.
They advised the buyers of Ledger devices from CryptoBilis to not setup devices and if done move the assets to another new seed wallet immediately. On Oct 10 Ledger confirmed at least 1 device is affected with unauthorized hardware implant.
By Oct 11 Ledger said the impacted devices were limited and that it was working with relevant authorities. On Oct 13 Ledger confirmed the attacked was targeted its supply chain rather than its software. So far Ledger hasn't confirmed the total loss.
Although Ledger says no reports involve the product directly bought from them.
Some users argued being an authorized seller of Ledger people put their trust while buying the devices and it is Ledger responsibility to keep in check with the security of their authorized resellers. They argued that Ledger should check any recent changes in the companies whether it still qualified as authorized
What we still don't know.
We are still not sure who tampered with the devices and where in supply chain tampering of devices happened. We have yet to know the total loss of funds due to the hack. We also don't know if the ownership change is related to the hack and whether the devices bought elsewhere are also affected.
What this mean for you?
If you had bought the ledger device directly from the official Ledger site, so far no reports are involved in device tampering but the investigation is still going on.
If you bought Ledger device from CryptoBilis:
Don't set-up your device if your device is bought from CryptoBilis in the last 90 last chances are it might be tampered. Many videos online showed a tampered device when it is opened up.
Move your funds if you already have set it up and using it, move them to new signer with new seed.
Forget about your old phrase now as it its totally compromised and even if you move to another wallet with same seed it still at risk.
If your funds are affected keep the records and report it to police. Keep records of transactions hashes and receiving address.
If you bought Ledger elsewhere:
Check for seller or reseller / distributor on the receipt to check if it isn't from CryptoBilis. Ledger is still investigating if devices sold other than CryptoBilis are affected or not.
After purchasing check if the packaging is genuine no tampering with packaging and check if the new seed is generated while setting the device up.
Some important recommendations for everyone:
Don't store or share your 24 words seed phrase online. Keep it written in the safe
place. Don't enter your seed phrase anywhere except ledger device.
Check for the publisher before installing any app, verify the developer and authenticity.
Buy the device directly from the official company website rather than depending upon the reseller.
Advice is based on what I know today, investigation is still open. Keep checking the Ledger official announcement if you suspect being affected. This article is general information and not financial or security advice.
Thank You
CyberCrypto
Resources
https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/10/13/ledger-says-spy-chip-inside-cryptobilis-ledger-devices-transmitted-wallet-keys-over-mobile-network
https://finance.biggo.com/news/3d1f63c8-f5af-4397-9d38-aad7b094d75b
https://thedefiant.io/news/security/cz-alleges-hackers-bought-cryptobilis-as-ledger-probes-wallet-drains