Fireblocks showcases defenses against nation-state attackers at Black Hat events

Fireblocks showcases defenses against nation-state attackers at Black Hat events The crypto custody firm's ongoing research into MPC wallet vulnerabilities highlights how sophisticated threat actors are targeting the keys that move billions onchain. Share Add us on Google by Editorial Team Jul. 23, 2026 When North Korea’s Lazarus group wants to steal crypto, they don’t bother with phishing links aimed at your grandmother.

They go after the cryptographic keys that control institutional wallets holding billions in digital assets. Fireblocks, one of the largest digital asset infrastructure providers, has been making the case at Black Hat conferences that the crypto industry’s defenses aren’t nearly good enough. At Black Hat USA 2023, Fireblocks dropped a research bombshell that sent ripples through the custody world.

The company disclosed a set of vulnerabilities it dubbed “BitForge,” affecting threshold signature schemes used by more than 15 popular crypto wallet providers. The tagline for the presentation was appropriately blunt: “Small Leaks, Billions of Dollars.” Advertisement What BitForge actually means What Fireblocks found is that the implementation of these threshold signature schemes, across more than 15 wallet providers, contained exploitable flaws.

The BitForge vulnerabilities could potentially allow attackers to extract private keys from what were supposed to be hardened MPC systems. The August 9, 2023 presentation laid out how these small cryptographic leaks, individually minor, could be chained together to compromise key material. The nation-state problem The Lazarus group, North Korea’s most prolific cyber-theft operation, has become something of a boogeyman in crypto security circles.

But calling them a boogeyman undersells the threat. This is a state-sponsored hacking apparatus that has been linked to some of the largest crypto heists in history, siphoning funds that reportedly help finance weapons programs. Fireblocks has positioned itself as a company that thinks about security through this nation-state lens.

Its MPC technology is specifically designed to eliminate single points of compromise in private key management for institutional custody. The company’s decision to present this research at Black Hat, the premier offensive security conference, rather than at a crypto industry event, is telling. What this means for the market The regulatory angle matters too.

Sustained attention to nation-state crypto threats is likely to invite more stringent oversight of custody standards. Regulators already watching the space for consumer protection reasons now have national security considerations layered on top. With Black Hat USA 2026 scheduled for August 1-6 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, the security community will be watching for Fireblocks’ next round of research.

The company has established a pattern of using the conference to disclose significant findings. No specific details or announcements from Fireblocks have emerged yet regarding their presentation plans, though MPC hardening and nation-state threat mitigation remain active areas of research. Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team.

For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy. TECHNOLOGY Fireblocks showcases defenses against nation-state attackers at Black Hat events The crypto custody firm's ongoing research into MPC wallet vulnerabilities highlights how sophisticated threat actors are targeting the keys that move billions onchain. by Editorial Team Jul.

23, 2026 Share Add us on Google When North Korea’s Lazarus group wants to steal crypto, they don’t bother with phishing links aimed at your grandmother. They go after the cryptographic keys that control institutional wallets holding billions in digital assets. Fireblocks, one of the largest digital asset infrastructure providers, has been making the case at Black Hat conferences that the crypto industry’s defenses aren’t nearly good enough.

At Black Hat USA 2023, Fireblocks dropped a research bombshell that sent ripples through the custody world. The company disclosed a set of vulnerabilities it dubbed “BitForge,” affecting threshold signature schemes used by more than 15 popular crypto wallet providers. The tagline for the presentation was appropriately blunt: “Small Leaks, Billions of Dollars.”

Advertisement What BitForge actually means What Fireblocks found is that the implementation of these threshold signature schemes, across more than 15 wallet providers, contained exploitable flaws. The BitForge vulnerabilities could potentially allow attackers to extract private keys from what were supposed to be hardened MPC systems. The August 9, 2023 presentation laid out how these small cryptographic leaks, individually minor, could be chained together to compromise key material.

The nation-state problem The Lazarus group, North Korea’s most prolific cyber-theft operation, has become something of a boogeyman in crypto security circles. But