Ledger: Crime Ring Spent Millions Implanting Spy Chips in Hardware Wallets

TREE NEWS update: A highly organized crime ring bought genuine Ledger devices over several months, opened them and implanted custom hidden components that steal seed phrases during device initialization, then routed the units back into sales channels via Southeast Asian distributors, Ledger said on October 16. The group spent millions of dollars and built its own seed-collection servers and theft and money-laundering infrastructure. Ledger said its chips, operating system and servers were not compromised, and has told authorized distributors in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong to pause sales.