Hackers Just Stole $130 Million Worth of Bitcoin From Cold Storage. Here's Why That Matters for Bitcoin Investors.

In the past few days, the price of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has soared 21% (as of Aug. 24). The bulls are preparing for the positive market sentiment to continue and lift the world's top cryptocurrency out of its slump and to a new record.

However, Bitcoin continues to face threats, most recently highlighted by the surprisingly weak security of a popular hardware wallet that allowed hackers to steal $130 million in assets. This unfortunate event negatively impacts the public's trust in this digital asset.

Here's what Bitcoin investors need to know.

Image source: Getty Images.

Knowing your private keys isn't enough

In a wave of attacks in late July and early August, it was revealed that the private keys of certain Coldcard wallets were able to be easily derived by malicious actors. Sold by Canadian company Coinkite, these devices implemented weak random number generators to create seed phrases. By brute force, hackers could figure out users' private keys remotely, thereby stealing funds.

Bitcoin supporters who adopt cold storage understand that if they don't know their own private keys, then those digital assets aren't really theirs. However, the Coldcard incident shows that having control of your private keys isn't enough. How those seed phrases are created is absolutely critical.

For what it's worth, Coinkite introduced new firmware to boost security. But it won't be easy to rebuild trust.

Power shifts from individuals to institutions

When the Bitcoin white paper was released in October 2008, the cryptocurrency was introduced to the world to empower individuals financially while undermining the influence of large banking entities. This was a pressing issue at the time, since the financial crisis was still impacting the economy.

Coldcard was revered as one of the most secure hardware wallets on the market. Its existence supported the case that people should take the time to learn how to self-custody their Bitcoin. This perspective is now called into question. Bitcoin's strongest bulls shouldn't be surprised that most people simply don't care to become their own bank.

This shifts power back to the institutions, which goes against Bitcoin's philosophy. The spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds should benefit, as they offer investors an accessible and convenient way to gain exposure to the digital asset.

As with any new technology, adoption can take off when it becomes seamless for everyday people to use. It's not realistic to expect everyone to put in the time and effort to climb a steep technical learning curve to self-custody Bitcoin. The Coldcard hack punished those who chose this path.

I believe Bitcoin's long-term thesis is intact. However, well-known financial companies will play a bigger role in adoption at the expense of smaller, riskier, and less established product and service providers.

Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.