Hidden Spy Chip Discovered in Sealed Ledger Wallet, Says Former Mt. Gox CEO

According to Mark Karpelès, who once led the collapsed Mt. Gox exchange, a sealed Ledger hardware wallet he received contained a tiny hidden circuit board meant to harvest both the password and the cryptocurrency inside. The packaging appeared flawless.

Karpelès reported that the spyware was concealed behind the screen in a spot normally occupied by padding. The device featured an antenna and a small SIM card that could relay a wallet's 24-word recovery phrase.

With that recovery phrase, an attacker can drain the wallet from a distance without ever needing physical access to the hardware again.

My spy-implanted ledger came from Malaysia, and had flawless shrink wrap. Even opening it, at first you don't see the implant which is cleverly hidden where the screen's padding is supposed to be.
Follow Ledger's guidance to check yours: https://t.co/FlOjWvqkZw pic.twitter.com/D8mixF1o9L

— Mark Karpelès (@MagicalTux) October 9, 2026

Ledger’s Security Check Might Miss the Spy Chip

Ledger's Genuine Check can verify the presence of an authentic security chip, but the company admits it cannot catch all physical tampering around that chip — a point made in its own documentation.

Consequently, a modified wallet might still pass the check even though a concealed component is monitoring the screen.

This finding surfaces while Ledger looks into claims of drained wallets linked to Malaysian reseller CryptoBilis. The firm instructed CryptoBilis to halt sales and shipments.

Early estimates from on-chain analysts placed losses at over $86 million.

A later analysis by Bitquery calculated $92.9 million lost across 311 wallets. Ledger has not verified those numbers. One individual is said to have lost 80 Bitcoin.

Karpelès stated his unit came from a different vendor. Ledger has not determined that modified hardware was behind the CryptoBilis incidents.

So Who Takes Responsibility?

The fault is sometimes directed at the buyers.

However, Ledger suggests using only authorised resellers, such as its official storefronts on Amazon, Shopee and Lazada.

I’m glad it’s not ledger, but it’s also crazy that people will buy from resellers

— Wendy O (@CryptoWendyO) October 9, 2026

The very purpose of a hardware wallet is to eliminate the need for trust in someone else with your funds. But purchasing one from an intermediary forces you to trust a stranger with the device that protects those funds.

For anyone entrusting their savings to a small device, this caution is hard to dismiss.