• Bitcoin core engineer Luke Dashjr lost 200 BTC in a hack on December 31.
• The hack was linked to a previous tweet from Dashjr in which he stated his server had been infected by malware/backdoors.
• Reactions to the hack news included Binance CEO Changpeng „CZ“ Zhao and other members of the Bitcoin community.
On December 31, Bitcoin core engineer Luke Dashjr lost over 200 Bitcoin (BTC) to a hack. Dashjr, a founding member of the Bitcoin network, had reported in a tweet on January 1 that his Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) key had been compromised, leading to the theft of his coins. The wallet address linked to the hack now displays four transactions from 2:08 to 2:16 UTC on December 31, totaling 216.93 BTC, or $3.6 million at the time of writing.
Dashjr did not disclose how the hackers accessed his PGP key, but some members of the Bitcoin community have suggested a connection to a previous tweet from Dashjr on November 17, in which he reported that his server had been infected by new malware/backdoors. In his most recent Twitter thread, Dashjr stated that he had received letters from Coinbase and Kraken regarding failed login attempts.
Reactions to the hack news included a statement from Changpeng „CZ“ Zhao, CEO of Binance, who urged everyone to take extra care when verifying downloads. Other members of the Bitcoin community expressed their shock and dismay at the news, offering support and advice to Dashjr.
The theft of Dashjr’s coins is yet another reminder of the need for extra vigilance when it comes to protecting one’s digital assets. While the use of PGP is generally considered to be a secure way to protect data, it is still vulnerable to attack if users do not take proper precautions. It is also important to ensure that all software is up to date with the latest security patches, and to be aware of any suspicious activity on one’s server.