Cold Card Hack Update - One Month Later… Hello again, I just wanted to share a few thoughts for those that are interested, but in particular for the other victims. While I can’t offer you brevity with this post - in an age of AI slop, fakeness and grift, I hope you can appreciate something very real. First of all, I am genuinely happy for all of you who are now enjoying what appears to be the end of this cycle’s bear market. You all deserve this for your conviction, and even though many of us are forced to sit this one out for now, I am still cheering you on from the sidelines. Don't feel bad about celebrating - just try to remain humble as your entire life can change in an instant in so many unpredictable ways. NEVER take for granted the freedom and security that your bitcoin will provide to you now, and in the future. Ultimately, the bitcoin journey will teach you life’s not about the money anyways so be a good person and take care of those around you. Safeguard your bitcoin appropriately, keep learning, never let your guard down even for a moment, and don’t make my mistake of becoming complacent and trusting others with something so critical. It should be obvious by now that the scammers will become more relentless, the capabilities of the black hats will increase dramatically, and the number of real world physical attacks will rise - everyone wants your bitcoin! To the other cold card victims: It has given me a great sense of solidarity connecting with many of you, hearing your stories and reading messages of support. It should be very clear by now that no one is coming to save us. Not your favourite influencers, not other OGs, not the bitcoin billionaires, no personal/corporate/government bailouts, and as it seems: certainly not NVK and Coinkite. We must save ourselves, and bitcoin remains hope. Our only, albeit unlikely, path to recovery is now ironically in the hands of the state (law enforcement) and chain analysis firms, which as bitcoiners we can only find some humour in. Now, I want to make a promise to you all: should the Wave 1 hacker get caught, and all the stolen funds be returned to victims - I pledge 20 BTC of my returned coins to be split between the people who directly helped find and bring the attacker to justice, and also the victims of the later waves who were unable to get their funds back. I have great empathy for you all, who did everything you were told was correct. We are all in this together, and I believe it’s the moral thing to do. Let this gesture be a reminder to the larpers in this space, that honourable bitcoiners do exist, and this journey we are all on together isn’t just about watching your own portfolio grow. Over the coming years as the price of bitcoin continues to rise, so too does the USD value of this pledge. And if there is no recovery: as the days turn to months and years while people move on - we can take solace in the fact that our sacrifice will help hundreds of millions of people in the future on their bitcoin journey towards SAFE self-custody. Contrary to some of the narratives floating around: self-custody and “bitcoin maximalism” are NOT dead. Never forget that holding your own keys is one of the cornerstones of bitcoin, a right and great responsibility to uphold, always be wary of those who tell you otherwise. As I’ve told some of you privately, our energy is best spent focusing on what we can control: ourselves, accepting this lesson, and building back stronger for us and our families. We will all survive this while we, dare I say, *acknowledge* how much of a catastrophic and monumental fuckup this was on Coinkite’s part. This story is far from over, and we all deserve the full truth, accountability, and justice. On that front however, it's looking less likely that any meaningful lawsuits against them will materialize, simply because all the lawyers want money upfront which many of us don’t have now. Due to the nature of the situation it’s unlikely to resolve positively for anyone but the lawyers themselves. For that reason and others I, and several of the other large loss victims I’ve spoken with are likely to bow out. Don’t mistake this as a psyop, or a coordinated submission among us: it’s just the reality and realization we’ve come to independently. However, that doesn’t mean they are off the hook—the hacker(s) and the Coinkite team have to live with their decisions and conduct for the rest of their lives. With no signs thus far to even attempt to set this right - as each day passes, their respective roads to redemption (while still open) start to close. This is true whether bound by lawyers or not, as even the slightest show of goodwill is better than silence. Karma is indeed real - even if it doesn’t manifest immediately. Never forget that this disaster had nothing to do with bitcoin itself - it was the failure of one specific company, and exposed many unfortunate truths about our own shortcomings, the industry and its influencers. Though as true bitcoiners, our spirit remains unbreakable. We are anti-fragile, stay resilient and even in the wake of such injustice and adversity we maintain our integrity and dignity. Though our plans may have been derailed for years or even decades - when we build back this time no one will be able to say we simply got lucky! The fight for freedom money and self-sovereignty was never going to be easy, but the mission and need for bitcoin is clearer than ever: fiat is dying. This will be my last post until this situation is resolved. I’ve yet to stack any sats since the incident and need to focus on my own path forward in life. I remain open to all opportunities that help me get back on my feet again. Eventually the sun will rise for us all. Cheers to building back, and until then: tick tock, next block. -M