Bitcoin core developer claims to have lost 200+ Bitcoin in a hack

He was one of the original Bitcoin core developers As a result of a hack that occurred just before the new year, Luke Dashjr claims he lost “basically” all his Bitcoin.

On Jan. 1, the developer posted on Twitter that the alleged hackers had gained access to his PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) key, a security method using two keys. According to the thread, some of the stolen BTC was sent to a wallet address, but the total amount stolen was not disclosed.

According to the wallet address in question, there were four transactions between 2:08 and 2:16 pm UTC on Dec. 31, with 216.93 BTC pilfered – worth an estimated $3.6 million at current market prices.

Dashjr said he had “no idea how” the attackers gained access to his key, though some in the community have pointed to a possible connection to an earlier Twitter post from Dashjr on Nov. 17 which stated that his server had been hacked by “new malware/backdoors on the system.”

According to Dashjr, he only became aware of the recent hack after getting emails from Coinbase and Kraken regarding login attempts. Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao expressed condolences and support for the incident in a post on January 1. 

“I’m sorry to hear about your losses. Our security team was notified to keep an eye on things. We will freeze it if it comes our way. Please let us know if there is anything else we can do for you. We deal with these on a regular basis and have Law Enforcement (LE) relationships all over the world “He wrote something. 

Some in the crypto community believe that lax security is to blame for the loss. In a Reddit thread on January 1, a user going by SatStandard suggested that Dashjr may not have taken the Nov. 17 security breach “seriously enough,” and that the Bitcoin developer “did not keep different activities separated.” 

Meanwhile, a few others appear to suggest that it was not a hack at all, implying that the seed phrase was discovered accidentally or as part of a “boating accident” ahead of tax season.  In this context, a boating accident is a running joke and meme started by gun enthusiasts but repurposed by the crypto community about people attempting to avoid paying taxes by claiming they lost all their BTC in a “Tragic boating accident.” 

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