FBI Subpoena Reveals Attendees at Bitcoin Developer Event Linked to Luke Dashjr’s Theft

In response to a subpoena, Mike Schmidt, co-founder of Brink, disclosed details about participants at a Bitcoin developer event connected to the investigation of Luke Dashjr’s Bitcoin theft.

Mike Schmidt received a subpoena from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), compelling him to provide personal information about attendees at the October 2022 CoreDev Atlanta event.

Schmidt Complies with FBI Subpoena

Schmidt revealed in a social media post that he received the subpoena from the FBI a year ago, but due to a non-disclosure order, he could only discuss the investigation after the order expired.

“The original subpoena requested much information,” explained Schmidt, “but after pushback, the FBI agent agreed to the following subset of information about you.”

He provided the FBI with the full names, GitHub usernames, and email addresses of the event attendees as part of the investigation into Luke Dashjr’s reported theft of his bitcoins.

“I do not have any details about the investigation or whether the subpoena was due to a targeted suspect or general information gathering,” Schmidt added.

Irony Highlighted

Schmidt included a screenshot of the email sent to him, pointing out the irony of the situation, stating, “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.”

Luke Dashjr’s Bitcoin Loss

In 2023, Luke Dashjr, a core Bitcoin developer, disclosed that he lost nearly all his Bitcoin holdings after his Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) key was compromised.

Dashjr revealed that hackers compromised his PGP key on December 31, 2022, resulting in the theft of over 200 BTC. At the current Bitcoin price of $71,000, the stolen Bitcoins would be valued at over $14.2 million.