Sui co-founder builds $10 quantum wallet after Coldcard hack

Mysten Labs co-founder Kostas Chalkias is leasing a dedicated factory to mass-produce quantum-resistant hardware wallet cards for Sui, with a target price of under $10 each. This move follows a recent firmware flaw in Coldcard hardware wallets that led to the theft of 2,055 BTC, valued at close to $130 million, from over 7,700 addresses.

Chalkias stated that the Coldcard incident would not be repeated for his users, and is personally funding the project outside of his role at Mysten Labs to proactively address future cryptographic vulnerabilities. He aims for a signature time of 1-2 seconds per NFC transaction.

Coldcard Hack Fuels $10 Quantum Wallet Development

A recent security failure impacting over 7,700 bitcoin addresses spurred Kostas Chalkias, co-founder of Mysten Labs, to independently pursue affordable quantum-resistant hardware wallets. The Coldcard hardware wallet experienced a breach due to a firmware flaw dating back to 2021, resulting in the theft of approximately 2,055 BTC, valued at nearly $130 million, after attackers exploited a compromised key generation process. Alex Thorn of Galaxy Research identified at least fifteen distinct attackers actively targeting remaining vulnerable wallets, demonstrating the scale of the incident.

While not a quantum attack itself, the Coldcard event underscored the risk of hardware wallets failing at a cryptographic level, creating potential vulnerabilities until funds are moved. This initiative complements Sui’s existing plans to integrate two quantum-resistant signature schemes approved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, one for standard accounts and another for high-value Move-based vaults. Existing Sui account holders will be able to transition to quantum-safe keys using their current recovery phrases, avoiding a disruptive hard fork.