Ledger Users Exposed in Global-e Breach; ‘Wrench Attack’ Fears Resurface
A hack at payment processor Global-e exposes Ledger customer names and addresses, reviving physical security concerns one year after a co-founder’s violent kidnapping.
Hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger has confirmed a fresh data breach affecting its customers, this time stemming from a compromise at its third-party payment processor, Global-e (GLBE). While Ledger’s devices remain secure, the leak of personal contact details has reignited fears of physical coercion targeting crypto holders. A threat vector that turned violent for the company’s own leadership just last year.
The Receipt: Supply Chain Vulnerability
The breach broke Monday after on-chain investigator ZachXBT published a notification email sent to Ledger customers by Global-e. The Nasdaq-listed e-commerce partner, which handles international checkout for brands like Adidas and Disney, admitted unauthorized access to its cloud environment.
The Damage Report:
Global-e’s filing confirms attackers harvested names, shipping addresses, and phone numbers. Crucially, no financial data (credit cards) or Ledger-specific secrets (24-word recovery phrases) were touched. Global-e (GLBE) shares dipped 3.9% to ~$38.40 as markets digested the supply chain failure.
The Institutional Context: Why Metadata Kills
In traditional finance, a data leak brings spam. In crypto, it brings home invasions. The 2020 Ledger database leak (1 million emails, 272k home addresses) created a persistent “hit list” for criminals, a pattern now risking repetition.
The risk isn’t an emptied wallet today, but a convincing email, or a knock on the door, tomorrow. When you know who has a hardware wallet, the effectiveness of phishing is through the roof.
The stakes are visceral. In January 2025, Ledger co-founder David Balland was kidnapped in France. Attackers, armed with knowledge of his holdings, severed his finger to force a ransom payment before police intervened. This new breach feeds the same criminal market: linking real-world identities to on-chain wealth.
Market Reaction & Outlook
Phishing campaigns are already mobilizing. Security analyst NanoBaiter flagged early waves of fraudulent emails posing as “Katie at E-Global,” directing victims to compromised links under the guise of security updates.
For Ledger, the breach highlights an unsolved structural weakness: while its Vault technology is fortress-grade, its e-commerce supply chain remains porous. Until privacy-first checkout becomes the industry standard, user data remains the soft underbelly of self-custody.
