MediaMarktSaturn pulls Ledger products amid tampering reports

European retailer MediaMarkt pulled Ledger products as the wallet maker probes tampering reports beyond CryptoBilis in Southeast Asia.

[Update Oct. 13, 1:10 PM UTC: This article has been updated with new statements from MediaMarktSaturn and Ledger.]

MediaMarktSaturn, the parent company of European electronics retailer MediaMarkt, has removed Ledger products from its physical stores and online platforms amid reports of tampered hardware wallets.

“The products have been removed from our product lineup internationally in all of our countries. We did this as a precautionary measure,” a MediaMarktSaturn spokesperson told Cointelegraph.

Ledger said Tuesday that MediaMarktSaturn suspended sales in coordination with the wallet maker following a report of a hardware implant from a customer in Germany. Ledger said no fund losses had been reported in connection with that case and that it had no indication its infrastructure, systems or services were compromised.

An X user known as Johannes claimed Monday that he purchased two Ledger wallets from separate MediaMarkt stores. He said both contained unauthorized cables and cellular modules.

The security concerns emerged Friday after Ledger said it is investigating reports of losses involving devices sold through Southeast Asian reseller CryptoBilis. Ledger said Tuesday that implants transmitted users’ recovery phrases over cellular networks and that it was investigating reports beyond CryptoBilis.

Separately, former Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpelès said Tuesday that a Ledger Flex purchased at Singapore’s airport contained a spy implant. Ledger responded by referring users to its latest CryptoBilis investigation update, without directly addressing the Singapore case.

Felix Ng contributed reporting.

Related: Ledger implant tests Bitcoin ETFs as safer custodial solutions than hardware wallets

Subscribe to daily byte-sized crypto news from Cointelegraph

More on the subject