Unlike the FTX collapse, the $89 million Coldcard exploit has investors sending bitcoin back to exchanges
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- Coldcard exploit valued at $89 million prompted smaller bitcoin holders to deposit funds onto exchanges for safety, according to blockchain analytics firms
- CryptoQuant flagged the resulting flows as the biggest sub-1 BTC movement since the FTX collapse in late 2022, reversing the post-FExodus trend of pulling funds off centralized venues
- The movement runs counter to the post-FTX flight-to-self-custody narrative, with small holders treating exchanges as the safer option when a custody tool is compromised
Why it matters: The $89 million Coldcard exploit triggered the largest sub-1 BTC exchange inflow since the FTX collapse in late 2022, inverting the post-FExodus self-custody migration. Smaller holders are now treating centralized venues as the safety destination, exposing how custody-tool failures still push capital back toward the platforms the 2022 collapse taught users to distrust.
