Crypto user loses $6.9M to a cold wallet from China’s TikTok

A Chinese crypto investor has reportedly lost around 50 million yuan (about $6.9–7 million) after buying a discounted hardware “cold” wallet through Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, that was secretly compromised. The device, which appeared to be a legitimate Ledger hardware wallet and arrived in what looked like factory‑sealed packaging with holographic stickers, was purchased via Douyin’s e‑commerce marketplace rather than from an official channel. After the victim transferred their holdings into the wallet, the funds were drained in minutes, triggering a late‑night emergency call to blockchain security firm SlowMist, which investigated the theft. According to SlowMist’s analysis, the wallet’s private key or recovery phrase generation process had been tampered with before sale, so the attackers already knew or controlled the seed phrase when the user initialized the device. Once the funds arrived, the thieves rapidly moved them through a laundering network associated with Huiwang in Cambodia, tied to the broader Huione Group financial network that FinCEN has linked to cyber‑heist money laundering. The incident highlights growing risks around hardware wallet supply‑chain tampering and the dangers of buying “discounted” or third‑party cold wallets through marketplace platforms, reinforcing guidance that users should only purchase new devices directly from manufacturers or authorized distributors to protect private keys.

✨ AI-generated background, compiled from web sources — not editorial content.

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