Bitcoin (BTC) approaches US$65,000, BTCPay vulnerabilities and fork concerns coexist

Key Highlights

Potential hard forks bring uncertainty

Institutional funds flood into Bitcoin ETF

BTC price reaches US$64,986, up 0.61%, test 65, US$0,000 mark

BTCPay server security vulnerability allows hackers to invade Lightning network nodes and steal cryptocurrency

BIP-110 hard fork proposal raises concerns about chain splits and transaction replay vulnerabilities

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF attracted approximately US$1 billion in capital inflows last week

Blockchain analysis shows that 2.27 million wallets were added, setting a 12-month high

Bitcoin price trend

Bitcoin showed resilience on Saturday, rising 0.61% to $64,986, approaching the psychological threshold of $65,000, despite the cryptocurrency community facing two high-profile security challenges.

BTCPay Server Security Vulnerability

On Friday night, malicious actors took advantage of a critical security vulnerability in the BTCPay Server infrastructure to successfully obtain authentication credentials and thereby control the Lightning Network node based on LND technology. The vulnerability allows unauthorized persons to access sensitive "macaroon" authentication files-digital keys that can control Lightning Network-based wallets, terminate payment channels and transfer cryptocurrency assets.

The BTCPay development team has confirmed the attack and issued urgent recommendations requiring an immediate upgrade to version 2.4.2 or a complete shutdown of the server. The organization has not disclosed the number of operators affected or the total amount of losses.

Alert: A BTCPay Server vulnerability being exploited is depleting merchant Lightning network nodes. Attackers can remotely obtain credential files and clear nodes from BTCPay deployments running LND, and well-known hardware wallet maker Foundation has been identified as one of the victims.

Well-known hardware wallet manufacturer Foundation confirmed that its lightning node connected to BTCPay has been completely emptied, but its main-chain hot wallet remains secure. Citadel21, a media focused on Bitcoin, also disclosed financial losses at Lightning Node.

Traditional on-chain wallets in BTCPay infrastructure are not affected, but cryptocurrencies stored in on-chain wallets at LND nodes may still be at risk.

Potential hard forks create uncertainty

At the same time, a separate technical challenge emerged around the BIP-110. This is a controversial fork proposal that is scheduled to be activated at a block height of approximately 961,632 over the weekend. The proposal aims to limit non-transactional data embedded in the Bitcoin blockchain.

The few forks that support BIP-110 occur after the Bitcoin block height of 961,632. Roughnecks, a mining pool that supports BIP-110, only produced blocks 961,632 and 961,633, and the Bitcoin backbone has been advanced further.

As of Friday, mining pool support was about 2.6%, well below the 55% consensus needed for mainstream adoption. Despite insufficient support, nodes running the BIP-110 client software will automatically reject blocks produced by non-participating miners after a specified activation height, which can cause the network to split into competing chains.

If a network split occurs, Bitcoin holders will automatically have the same balance on both result chains. Developer Kevin Loaec warns that attempts to liquidate forked assets without properly isolating wallet balances could inadvertently damage real Bitcoin through replay attacks.

Institutional funds flood into Bitcoin ETF

Eric Balchunas, chief ETF analyst at Bloomberg, revealed that U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds contributed approximately US$1 billion in net capital last week, which was the strongest performance since April and the third strongest weekly performance since October 2025.

Balchunas also speculated that the recent Coldcard hardware wallet security incident (a firmware vulnerability that affected the generation of private keys, resulting in the theft of approximately $116 million in Bitcoin) may prompt some investors to switch to regulated ETF products. "In the long term, I can't imagine not having some investors migrating there," he said. But he also admitted that the connection was still speculative.

Blockchain intelligence platform Sanitation records show that the Bitcoin network added 2.27 million wallets in the past week, the highest growth rate in the past year. Sanitation attributed the surge in part to the impact of the Coldcard incident, explaining that security incidents often prompt users to move assets, rearrange custody methods and establish new wallet addresses, amplifying network activity. The analyst firm also pointed out that historically large bitcoin holders have often used periods of high retail participation to strengthen their accumulation strategies.

The Bitcoin network has just had a strong week. Internet growth reached 2.27 million new wallets, a new high in the past year, while 751,000 active wallets recorded the strongest reading in 10 months. The biggest catalyst is the chaos in Coldcard's wallet. The security shock forces people...

According to the latest transaction data, Bitcoin was quoted at US$64,933, a slight decrease of US$74 from the previous trading day.