Experts now urge users to switch to hardware wallets or trusted apps that use true random number generators.
According to crypto wallet firm OneKey, the problem came from a popular open-source Bitcoin tool called Libbitcoin Explorer (bx). This software was used to create wallets offline, but it contained a serious flaw: it didn’t generate private keys randomly enough.
Instead, the system used the computer’s clock as a seed to create wallet keys. That meant only a limited number of key combinations were possible. Anyone who knew roughly when a wallet was created could guess its private key, and take control of it.
Researchers found that over 220,000 Bitcoin addresses were affected. Shockingly, some people are still sending funds to these unsafe wallets today.
This same weakness may explain earlier mysterious thefts, including the “Milk Sad” incident, where users lost their funds even though their computers weren’t connected to the internet.
The flaw also connects to another case involving LuBian, a major Bitcoin mining business. In 2020, LuBian lost 127,000 Bitcoin after attackers exploited a similar weak key system.
Now, U.S. authorities have confirmed that many of those coins were linked to Prince Group, a company accused of running online scams and forced-labor operations in Cambodia. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has seized those Bitcoin, making it one of the largest crypto confiscations ever.
This discovery shows how a small coding mistake can expose billions of dollars. Weak random key generation doesn’t break Bitcoin itself , but it can break wallets built with poor code.
Experts now urge users to switch to hardware wallets or trusted apps that use true random number generators. It’s a strong reminder: in crypto, your security is only as strong as your code.
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What’s most interesting is wallet addresses listed in the US government $14B (127K BTC) seizure previously were named in a Milky Sad report ~2 years ago for having vulnerable private keys and now the USG says they have custody of them.
[ ZOOMER ] U.S. SEEKS FORFEITURE OF 127,271 BTC ($12B) TIED TO TRANSNATIONAL PIG BUTCHERING SCAM RUN BY CHINESE NATIONAL CHEN ZHI
NEW: Some of the 127,000 Bitcoin the U.S. government just seized from a Chinese scam were previously reported as having private key vulnerabilities Now the U.S. government has them in custody Is the U.S. government hacking Bitcoin wallets? 🤔 h/t @zachxbt
