MediaMarkt Pulls All Ledger Products From European Stores After Tampered Wallets Surface in Germany

Published October 13, 2026, 8:55 PM PKT. Based on statements from MediaMarktSaturn and Ledger on October 13, 2026, and reporting by Cointelegraph, TokenPost, and BigGo Finance.

Europe's biggest electronics retailer has stopped selling Ledger wallets. On October 13, 2026, MediaMarktSaturn, the parent company of MediaMarkt, told Cointelegraph it had removed all Ledger products from its physical stores and online platforms in every country where it operates. "The products have been removed from our product lineup internationally in all of our countries. We did this as a precautionary measure," a spokesperson said.

The pull followed a report from a customer in Germany who said they found a hardware implant inside a Ledger device. Ledger said Tuesday that MediaMarktSaturn suspended sales in coordination with the wallet maker, and that no fund losses had been reported in connection with that case. The company added that it had no indication its own infrastructure, systems, or services had been compromised.

The sealed boxes that were not safe

The German report started on X. A user known as Johannes claimed Monday that he had bought two Ledger wallets from separate MediaMarkt stores and found unauthorized cables and cellular modules inside both. According to a BigGo Finance report describing the researcher's findings, he documented the second purchase on video, opening a sealed box inside the store before finding the same modifications he had found in the first device. Store records for that unit indicated the inventory had been supplied by Aqipa GmbH, a distributor that began handling Ledger products in Germany and Austria in 2023, the report said. MediaMarkt staff told the researcher the unit was not a returned item, and that customer returns of Ledger devices go back to the manufacturer rather than being resold.

The 1,000-store question

MediaMarktSaturn operates more than 1,000 stores across 11 European countries, according to the report, which turns two tampered devices into a supply-chain question with continental scale. Until now, every confirmed drain in the Ledger implant saga has traced to CryptoBilis, the Southeast Asian reseller that halted hardware wallet sales on October 9 after Ledger said it was investigating losses tied to its devices. Ledger's Donjon security team said on October 13 that the implants read the 24-word recovery phrase off the device screen during setup and transmitted it over LTE through a provisioned eSIM, a mechanism that would work in any tampered unit regardless of where it was bought.

Ledger confirmed Tuesday that its investigation now extends beyond the reseller. The company said it has not verified a drain linked to a signer bought elsewhere, while adding that its researchers are reviewing reports of implants in other signers and locations.

The Singapore airport device

Separately, former Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpelès said Tuesday that a Ledger Flex he bought at Singapore's airport contained a spy implant. Ledger responded by pointing users to its latest CryptoBilis investigation update, without directly addressing the Singapore case, Cointelegraph reported. The two reports, one from Europe and one from Asia, landed on the same day Ledger acknowledged it was reviewing implant reports beyond CryptoBilis.

What holders should do now

For CryptoBilis buyers, Ledger's guidance remains: do not set up the device, contact Ledger Support, and for devices already in use, move assets to a new device with a new recovery phrase. For anyone who bought a Ledger through other retail channels, the company has published an inspection guide, and it says anyone who suspects tampering should contact its support team and file a police report. Ledger has not confirmed the German MediaMarkt device or the Singapore airport device as tampered, and both investigations are ongoing.

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.

Sources

• MediaMarktSaturn spokesperson, statement to Cointelegraph (Oct. 13, 2026), primary source for the removal of Ledger products from all countries' stores and online platforms as a precautionary measure
• Ledger (@Ledger on X), Oct. 13, 2026 statement, primary source for the coordinated sales suspension with MediaMarktSaturn, the German hardware-implant report, no fund losses in that case, and no indication of compromised infrastructure
• Cointelegraph, MediaMarkt Parent Pulls Ledger Wallets Amid Tampering Reports (Oct. 13, 2026), secondary source for the MediaMarktSaturn and Ledger statements, the Johannes reports, and the Mark Karpelès Singapore claim
• BigGo Finance, MediaMarktSaturn Pulls All Ledger Wallets From Stores Amid Tampering Fears (Oct. 13, 2026), secondary source for the researcher's in-store video, the Aqipa GmbH distributor detail, and the 1,000-store, 11-country footprint
• TokenPost, MediaMarkt Pulls All Ledger Products After Tampering Reports (Oct. 13, 2026), secondary source for the scope of the removal and the status of both investigations