Bitcoin Developer Luke Dashjr has Lost all his BTC holdings
- On the very first day of 2023, one of the earlier Bitcoin (BTC) developers, Luke Dashjr, was the victim of an attack.
- Dashjr lost all his BTC holdings due to compromised PGP key and asked his followers to help him recover the funds.
- Dashjr confirmed that a significant portion of his funds have been transferred to the wallet: 1YAR6opJCfDjBNdn5bV8b5Mcu84tv92fa
- The funds were transferred via the CoinJoin Bitcoin mixer.
The crypto industry has become more of a playground for hackers and scammers following the 2021 market bull run, and it is crucial to note that 2022 was probably the worst year for the industry due to the sheer number of hacks and attacks witnessed. Additionally, on the very first day of 2023, one of the earlier Bitcoin (BTC) developers was the victim of an attack as well.
According to a Twitter post from his official account, Luke Dashjr, a Bitcoin developer with over 8 years of experience, lost all his BTC holdings due to a compromised PGP key. The developer stated that he has no idea how this could’ve happened and asked his followers to help him recover the funds.
While the amount of Bitcoin stolen hasn’t been revealed, it is clear that given Dashjr’s experience since 2011, the amount would’ve been significant. Dashjr confirmed that a significant portion of his funds have been transferred to the wallet: 1YAR6opJCfDjBNdn5bV8b5Mcu84tv92fa. The transfer was made using the CoinJoin Bitcoin mixer, which has become quite popular.
One of the users in the comments of the Twitter post from the Bitcoin developer stated that, per their beliefs, Dashjr’s Twitter account might be compromised, to which the developer replied “almost certainly.” It is currently unclear what caused the PGP key to be compromised, but many people shared their own views on the same.
Interestingly, the CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ in the crypto space, reached out to the Bitcoin developer in the comments.
“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 these often, and have Law Enforcement (LE) relationships worldwide,” Zhao stated.
2022 was the Year of Crypto Crimes
In 2022, some of the biggest crypto companies collapsed and filed for bankruptcy. The most notable one was the collapse of FTX, which was once valued at over $32 billion. It is crucial to note that, as per a report from Forbes, over $3 billion was hacked from crypto projects, and there were over 125 hacks on cryptocurrency projects throughout the year.
The top 5 biggest crypto crimes include the $625 million breach in Ronin Network, the $325 million theft in Wormhole, the $190 million hack in Nomad Bridge, the $182 million flash loan attack in Beanstalk Farms, and the $160 million exploit in Wintermute. Interestingly, the United States SEC and CFTC have stepped up their game of regulating the cryptocurrency market and aim to hunt down bad actors in the space.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
