Luke Dashjr, One of the core Bitcoin developers, claims that he lost all of his Bitcoins (216.93 BTC) due to a hack just before the new year.
The developer posted a tweet that the alleged hackers had gained access to his PGP key. This common security method requires two keys to access encrypted information.
He shared his wallet address, where some of the stolen BTC was sent but did not disclose how much. The wallet address has four transactions between 2:08 UTC and 2:16 UTC on December 31, totaling around $3.6 million (216.93 BTC) at current prices.
Dashjr stated that he didn’t know how the attackers accessed his key. However, some community members suggested a connection to Dashjr’s November 17 tweet in which he noted that his server was compromised by “new malware/backdoors.”
In his latest Twitter thread, Dashjr told a user that he only noticed the hack after receiving emails from Kraken and Coinbase about login attempts.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) Zhao also became aware of the incident and offered support through a tweet.
CZ said in a tweet, “Sorry to hear that you have lost so much. We have informed our security team to monitor. We will immediately freeze any item that comes our way. Please let us know if there is any other help we can do.”
Some crypto-community members speculate that the loss could be due to lax security. SatStandard, a Reddit user suggested that Dashjr might not have taken the Nov.17 security breach “seriously enough.” Later, SatStandard said that the Bitcoin developer had “not kept different activities separate.”
Others suggest that it might not have been a hack, suggesting that it could have been someone who had come across the seed phrase or was part of a “boating accident” before tax season.
Binance’s Zhao warned the crypto community previously about self-custody. He said it was sad to see an OG #Bitcoin core developer lose 200+ BTC ($3.5M). Self-custody comes with a unique set of risks.
Udi Wertheimer, a BTC enthusiast, also took the time and question whether self-custody was viable and safe. He commented that you “shouldn’t manage your keys.”
“If one of Bitcoin’s OG developers makes a mistake, I don’t know how others can do it safely.”
Self-custody is not a bad thing. He said that keys should not be managed directly.
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