- Attendees of the 2022 CoreDev Atlanta conference were subpoenaed by the FBI last year regarding a $3 million Bitcoin theft
- Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr saw the sum stolen from him in January 2023
- The FBI subpoenaed conference attendees for personal information in the wake of the hack, it has just been revealed
Attendees of the 2022 CoreDev Atlanta were being subpoenaed as part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) investigation into the January 2023 theft of at least ₿216 from Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr. Mike Schmidt, co-founder of Bitcoin non-profit Brink, revealed on X last week that he and all attendees were served with a subpoena in April 2023, criticizing Dashjr for causing their identities to be revealed to the FBI in the process. Dashjr says that his PGP key was compromised in late 2022, and the FBI clearly felt that someone at the CoreDev Atlanta conference was involved in the theft.
$3 Million Stolen Following PGP Compromise
Dashjr revealed the loss in real time on January 1 last year, stating that his PGP key had been compromised the night before and that “at least many of my bitcoins stolen.” It turned out that a great many of Dashjr’s bitcoins had been stolen, $3 million worth at the time, leaving him to note two hours later that his haul was “basically all gone.”
Dashjr revealed his mightily complex storage arrangements, which led some to argue that this complexity had left a flaw somewhere. The developer enlisted the help of the FBI, who clearly felt that the case is connected to the conference, which took place the prior October.
All Attendees Doxed
Schmidt revealed that he received the subpoena last April but that he was only now allowed to publicize it. He was also candid in his opinion over Dashjr’s actions:
The guy who wants to tell you how to use Bitcoin couldn’t even secure his own Bitcoin and, as a consequence, got everyone at a conference he attended doxxed by the FBI. 😱
Good job, Luke! 👍 pic.twitter.com/QQGdJ7AnaT
— Mike In Space (@mikeinspace) April 10, 2024
No further details have been forthcoming over the incident despite the FBI theoretically having this information for at least a year, but Dashjr will hope that his sudden (some would argue extended) unpopularity is a price worth paying in time.
