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

— @[email protected] on Mastodon (@LukeDashjr) January 1, 2023

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 that 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

— @[email protected] on Mastodon (@LukeDashjr) November 17, 2022

Dashjr told a user in his most recent Twitter thread…