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Bitcoin Developer Event Draws FBI Attention
In a surprising turn of events, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has zeroed in on a Bitcoin core developer event that took place in October 2022. The incident involved the theft of over 200 BTC from developer Luke Dashjr, who is a co-founder of the Ocean mining pool. Dashjr made the theft public, revealing that at the time of the incident, the stolen Bitcoin was valued at approximately $3.3 million. However, with the volatility surrounding the pre-Bitcoin halving and the price rallies sparked by ETFs, the stolen BTC would now be worth more than a staggering $14 million.
A key figure in the Bitcoin non-profit space, Mike Schmidt, who co-founded Brink, disclosed that the FBI issued a subpoena demanding the personal details of attendees at the CoreDev Atlanta event, which occurred just before the TABConf in 2022. The FBI requested names, GitHub usernames, and email addresses of the attendees as part of their investigation into Dashjr’s theft claim.
Under legal counsel, Schmidt chose to comply with the FBI’s subpoena, despite reservations within the Bitcoin developer community regarding the doxxing of event attendees. The confidentiality clause of the subpoena eventually expired a year later, just before Schmidt decided to disclose these details to the public.
Community Reaction and Uncertainties
The Bitcoin developer community expressed discontent with the situation, as highlighted by a tweet from Schmidt, which criticized Dashjr’s handling of his own Bitcoin security and the subsequent doxxing of conference attendees by the FBI.
As for the specifics of the FBI’s investigation, details remain shrouded in mystery. Schmidt himself admitted uncertainty regarding the agency’s intentions behind the subpoena. It is unclear whether the FBI sought to identify a specific suspect or if the information gather effort was part of a broader investigative scope.
Following his compliance with the FBI’s demands, Schmidt disclosed that he has had no further interactions with the agency and has chosen to remain discreet regarding any additional information.
FBI’s Ongoing Cryptocurrency Investigations
The FBI’s involvement in cryptocurrency-related matters has been prominent. Earlier this year, the agency launched an investigation into a misleading tweet purportedly sent from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The tweet falsely announced the early approval of all Bitcoin spot ETFs. The prevailing theory suggested that the tweet may have been a premature draft mistakenly published.
However, a statement from an SEC spokesperson, as reported by Decrypt, refuted this claim, asserting that no internal elements of the tweet were created by the SEC. The intricacies of this investigation serve as a testament to the regulatory challenges and security concerns surrounding the burgeoning cryptocurrency landscape.
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