A difficult start to the year for Luke Dashjr. One of Bitcoin’s original developers and one of the most prominent figures in the community just announced that almost all of his BTC had been stolen.
Original Bitcoin developer loses all his BTCs
Luke Dashjr announced the news on his Twitter account at the end of the day yesterday. He then explained that he had lost “a lot” of his bitcoins (BTC) and called on the community for help :
PSA: My PGP key is compromised, and at least many of my bitcoins stolen. I have no idea how. Help please. #Bitcoin
—@[email protected] on Mastodon (@LukeDashjr) January 1, 2023
Part of the funds would have been sent to the CoinJoin mixer, which makes it possible to anonymize transactions. In an update a few hours later, Luke Dashjr also confirmed that it would be all of his BTC holdings that were stolen. The published addresses show that 213.6 bitcoins have been transferred, which corresponds to the current price at a sum of 3.5 million dollars.
? Find our guide – How to secure and store your cryptocurrencies?
Ledger Stax, designed for NFTs by the creator of the iPod
? The world leader in crypto security
A “nightmare” for Luke Dashjr
The developer reportedly contacted the FBI, which he said was not interested in the situation. Asked how the community could help him, Luke Dashjr evaded the question, and described the situation as a “nightmare” :
To wake up from this nightmare
—@[email protected] on Mastodon (@LukeDashjr) January 2, 2023
Notably, the Bitcoin developer claims not to know how these BTCs were stolen, and clarifies that “Everything is compromised». We have few details on how he secured his assets, at most we know that he did not use a multisig. He confirmed that his cold wallet had also been compromised.
Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, reacted to these posts and said that if the stolen BTC arrives on the exchange, they would be frozen. He also took the opportunity to tackle self-hosted wallets:
Sad to see even an OG #Bitcoin Core Developer lost 200+ BTC ($3.5 million). Self-custody have a different set of risks.
We will try to monitor and see where we can help. ? https://t.co/9eGZ7AFgC2
— CZ ? Binance (@cz_binance) January 1, 2023
Details should emerge on the case, so that it is understood how such a prominent member of the Bitcoin community was able to lose this considerable sum, especially if it was stored on a cold wallet. It will be recalled from time to time that it is always preferable to keep your cryptocurrencies in “cold” wallets, and to take the best security measures.
? Listen to this article and all other crypto news on Spotify
Progress in the world of cryptocurrencies with Cryptoast experts ?
Newsletter ?
Receive a summary of crypto news every Monday by email ?
What you need to know about affiliate links. This page presents assets, products or services relating to investments. Some links in this article are affiliated. This means that if you buy a product or register on a site from this article, our partner pays us a commission. This allows us to continue to offer you original and useful content. There is no impact on you and you can even get a bonus by using our links.
Investments in cryptocurrencies are risky. Cryptoast is not responsible for the quality of the products or services presented on this page and could not be held responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused following the use of a good or service highlighted in this article. Investments related to crypto-assets are risky by nature, readers should do their own research before taking any action and only invest within the limits of their financial capabilities. This article does not constitute investment advice.
AMF recommendations. There is no guaranteed high return, a product with high return potential involves high risk. This risk-taking must be in line with your project, your investment horizon and your ability to lose part of this savings. Do not invest if you are not ready to lose all or part of your capital.
To go further, read our Financial Situation, Media Transparency and Legal Notices pages.
Journalist at Cryptoast, I fell into the pot of cryptocurrencies a few years ago. I am passionate about the innovative technologies that stem from the blockchain and I like to find the most crispy information to share with you.
Marine Debelloir
2242 items