Ledger is investigating reports that customers in Southeast Asia lost cryptocurrency after buying signing devices from a Malaysia-based reseller, with the hardware wallet maker confirming that at least one affected device contained an unauthorized hardware implant.
The Paris-based company said it began examining the reports on Friday after users who purchased Ledger products from Kuala Lumpur-based vendor CryptoBilis reported losses. On Saturday, Ledger said it had verified that one device had been tampered with. The company has not disclosed the amount lost or said how many devices may have been modified.
Blockchain investigator Specter estimated that about $86 million had been drained from devices, although that figure has not been confirmed by Ledger. According to Bitcoin Magazine, customers had posted photographs on social media that they said showed implants inside Ledger products. The posts raised concerns that the modification could potentially enable access to users’ private keys, but the scope and capabilities of the implant remain unclear.
Ledger warns customers about unauthorized sellers
In a Sunday announcement, Ledger said it was working with relevant authorities and had contacted customers it identified as affected. The company also advised people who bought devices from CryptoBilis not to set them up.
CryptoBilis has stopped selling its hardware wallets, Ledger said. Neither Ledger nor CryptoBilis immediately responded to questions from Bitcoin Magazine.
Ledger urged customers to avoid unauthorized resellers, warning that products obtained through such channels may be suspicious, counterfeit or modified and therefore may not operate under Ledger’s security guidelines. The company said the incident highlighted the need to continue reviewing its distribution and anti-tamper procedures.
Hardware wallets, also called signing devices, are designed to keep the credentials used to authorize cryptocurrency transactions separate from internet-connected devices. A tampered product can therefore create a security risk before a user even begins using it. Ledger said the number of impacted products was “limited,” but it has not provided a precise figure.
A broader run of hardware-wallet security incidents
The investigation comes amid heightened attention on the security of cryptocurrency wallets. In July, hackers stole close to $120 million in bitcoin from Coldcard users after a firmware bug in products made by Canadian company Coinkite caused faulty seed generation. The flaw allowed attackers to effectively guess users’ seed phrases, according to the source material.
Last month, Trezor said information belonging to nearly 81,000 customers had been exposed after a third-party fulfillment partner suffered a data theft. Separately, scammers obtained customer information through Ledger payment processor Global-e and used it to send phishing emails.
Current crypto market picture
Moneyiar market data at 10:09 on October 13, 2026, put Bitcoin at $83,508.35, up 0.12% over 24 hours but down 2.9% over seven days.
Other tracked assets were weaker: edgeX was $0.3349, down 6.9% in 24 hours and 26% over seven days; Aethir was $0.00599, down 8.18% and 17.8%, respectively; and BAS was $0.02115, down 6.69% over 24 hours and 9.89% over the week.
