One of the original core developers behind Bitcoin (BTC), Luke Dashjr, claims to have lost “basically” all his BTC as a result of a hack that occurred just before the new year.
In a Jan. 1 post on Twitter, the developer said the alleged hackers had somehow gained access to his PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) key, a common security method that uses two keys to gain access to encrypted information.
In the thread, he shared a wallet address where some of the stolen BTC had been sent but did not reveal how much of his BTC was stolen in total.
PSA: My PGP key is compromised, and at least many of my bitcoins stolen. I have no idea how. Help please. #Bitcoin
At the time of writing the wallet address in question shows four transactions between 2:08 and 2:16 pm UTC on Dec. 31, totalling 216.93 BTC — worth $3.6 million at current 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 with an earlier Twitter post from Dashjr on Nov. 17 which noted that his server had been compromised by “new malware/backdoors on the system.”
PSA: My server was accessed this morning by an unknown person. Full analysis in progress, but take extra care that you PGP-verified any downloads. #Bitcoin
Dashjr told a user in his most recent Twitter thread that he had only noticed the recent hack after getting emails from Coinbase and Kraken about login attempts.
The incident has also caught the attention of Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao offering condolences and support in a Jan. 1 post.
“Sorry to see you lose so much. Informed our security team to monitor. If it comes our way, we will freeze it. If there is anything else we can help with, please let us know. We deal with
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