Bitcoin Under Attack | Bitcoin Banter

— The ColdCard firmware vulnerability exposed a five-year-old entropy generation bug that drained thousands of wallets; the team recommends discontinuing ColdCard recommendations but will support existing users who implement independent entropy methods like dice rolls.

— AI-assisted breaches are accelerating attacks on Bitcoin infrastructure, affecting BTCPay Server, Bolts (a lightning bridge), and other self-custody tools; defenders must adopt stronger verification practices while accepting that the same AI tools can also identify vulnerabilities.

— Strategy's CEO claimed the company functions as "the central bank of Bitcoin" due to holding ~4% of total supply; speakers rejected this framing, emphasizing that Strategy's paper Bitcoin products undermine true Bitcoin sovereignty and self-custody principles.

— BlackRock lowered the minimum in-kind Bitcoin redemption threshold for IBIT from $29 million to $1 million, making it easier for mid-sized players to trade real Bitcoin for custodial shares—particularly relevant given recent security incidents spooked some holders.

— Simon Dixon frames recent attacks as a coordinated multi-pronged assault through the Financial Industrial Complex: sabotage self-custody confidence, discourage node-running, and push adoption of centralized custody solutions wrapped as safe alternatives.

— The hosts maintain that self-custody and full node operation remain non-negotiable for true Bitcoin sovereignty; giving up on self-custody amounts to surrendering freedom to the legacy financial system.

— If you currently hold a ColdCard, update the firmware immediately and generate any new seed phrases using external, independently verified entropy (such as 100 dice rolls) rather than relying on the device's internal random number generator.

— Schedule self-custody training and establish a robust multi-signature setup with additional security layers; The Bitcoin Way reports that none of their trained clients lost funds in the ColdCard incident due to the extra verification steps they implement.

— Run a full Bitcoin node and maintain direct on-chain control of your keys; resist the convenience trap of custodial products (IBIT, Strategy shares, or exchange wallets) that transfer custody risk to institutions and eliminate your verification ability.