10 ms·

Bitcoin core developer claims to have lost 200 BTC in hack

70 points by gennarro 4y ago

fsflover 4y ago
Current discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34210583 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34210583.
optimalsolver 4y ago
[flagged]
- virtualritz 4y ago
  Can you give a source for this?
  - Reason077 4y ago
    A quick search turned up this collection of wisdom: https://www.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/4936kw/lukejr_is_a_seriously_a_super_crazy_person_quotes/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/4936kw/lukejr_is_...
    - user3939382 4y ago
      Some of the examples that he’s crazy there are just rules from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can disagree with it but being Catholic doesn’t make you crazy.
      - fs111 4y ago
        > You can disagree with it but being Catholic doesn’t make you crazy. Yes it does. Just because crazy ideas are spread by an old religious organization does not make them any less crazy. There is no provable god. Any of their beliefs are just that, beliefs. Nothing they "teach" can be verified or measured. It is all made up nonsense and you might as well call it crazy. People do not raise from the dead. We die, that's it.
        maxbond 4y ago
        I don't think it's necessary to denounce religion to criticize these views, and that's usually viewed as flamebait.
        mindslight 4y ago
        > Just because crazy ideas are spread by an old religious organization does not make them any less crazy. I agree with this, for provably wrong, generally accepted as wrong, or blatantly contradictory statements. But from a secular perspective, believing in god(s) is just an approximation or heuristic. Some people need or want that. For my own thinking I've judged it as an questionable axiom that creates a logic hole large enough to drive a bulldozer through, but to each their own. What actually matters is the conclusions and behaviors a person builds on top of it.
        anon291 4y ago
        Catholic moral teaching on homosexuality does not require there to be a God. In fact the reasoning is entirely secular. You may disagree with it, but that is the case. Catholic moral teaching on slavery is based on there being a God. When it comes to marriage, the church believes that relations between men and women that can result in the generation of a child are worthy of special privileges. Relations between impotent men or women who cannot have sex are similarly not considered marriage. If you can find two men or two women who produced a child, the church would change its beliefs, but no one has been able to do so. Note that there's no dependence on their being a god for this one. The fact that heterosexual couplings produce children is an observation. That this relationship should come with societal privilege is a statement one can come to through reason.
        pmarreck 4y ago
        > Relations between impotent men or women who cannot have sex are similarly not considered marriage Is this indeed so?
        anon291 4y ago
        Yes, men who cannot have erections due to permanent disability or women without vaginas (whether due to surgery or existing disability) cannot marry in the church. It's always been the case.
      - maxbond 4y ago
        In my limited understanding as a non-Catholic, some of these are Traditionalist Catholic takes (notably the geocentrism), eg, rejecting the mild reforms of Vatican II. So, it being just the Catechism is something I think many Catholics would take issue with. I can't imagine any of the Catholics I've ever met offering up a defense of slavery.
        user3939382 4y ago
        Some, some are almost verbatim out of the current (post-Vatican II) Catechism.
      - jsjohnst 4y ago
        Except he’s not “Catholic” (at least by what most define that as). Apparently he’s a sedevacantism follower.
      - voytec 4y ago
        It's ancient stuff which can be interpreted and translated to modern language but should not be taken literally. Apart from this, religions were created as means of society control. Some people need religion, some can find spirituality without it, some don't have such needs. This guy appears to be a person who would set someone on fire to make sure that they're not a witch.
        user3939382 4y ago
        > It's ancient stuff which can be interpreted and translated to modern language but should not be taken literally. That's a debate that belongs to the Bible not the Catechism. The Catechism is updated all the time and published in an authorized modern English version.
      - thefounder 4y ago
        >> You can disagree with it but being Catholic doesn’t make you crazy. No more crazy than some people in the middle east. They are not crazy but you can say they are religious fanatics or as the people in the U.S prefer to say Right-Wing
  - Beltalowda 4y ago
    https://old.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/4936kw/lukejr_is_a_seriously_a_super_crazy_person_quotes/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/4936kw/lukejr_is_... Don't think it matters though; theft is still theft even if the victim is a nutjob, and it's still theft if he didn't protect his keys well enough. But today a crime is okay if you don't like someone. Hmkay.
    - trudler 4y ago
      On a second thought: He reads like an extremely religious person. This actually makes me doubt the "tax evasion" story.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - tonetheman 4y ago
        [dead]
    - petee 4y ago
      I see it as accepting karma; the guy is clealy an idiot and an ass, and was responsible for losing their own money. Like if someone spread their money all over their lawn to show off; when it gets stolen, I'm not supporting the theft, but I can definitely laugh at the "victim" who did it to themselves. There is room for personal responsibility here...
      - Beltalowda 4y ago
        There's a difference between "I'm ok with this" (which is what the comment further upthread said) and "lol, what an idiot". The first indicates approval of the crime, the second does not. Plus, it was purely based on his personal views, and not his op-sec (or lack thereof). Besides, it's not like he strewn all his money on the lawn; stealing the wallet + GPG key still took some significant effort. More like leaving a lot of money in the house with a shabby door and lock: not a smart idea, but you'd still have to break through the front door – crappy as it may be – to get at it. It wasn't a "crime of opportunity".
- pxmpxm 4y ago
  [flagged]
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- ergonaught 4y ago
  He has written a large number of things that demonstrate he is cognitively impaired. It's weird watching folks either engaging in "blaming the victim" or "laughing at the disabled" around this guy. He appears to be astoundingly, cripplingly stupid. Core dev, huh? Yeah. Cool.
  - petee 4y ago
    Cognitively impared, or just an asshole? Its a very fine line
  - gruez 4y ago
    >He appears to be astoundingly, cripplingly stupid. Core dev, huh? Yeah. Cool. Is that an issue? His contributions are peer reviewed, just like with everyone else's contributions (anyone can submit PRs). Or do you work at place that would fire well performing team members if it was found out they believed in something that was "astoundingly, cripplingly stupid"?
    - ergonaught 4y ago
      You basically just rationalized the ChatGPT Development Team, coming to everywhere near you. Yes, someone who appears to get things right by accident would eventually be removed in almost every place I’ve worked, except when that person was in charge.
- imgabe 4y ago
  It's in a subreddit called "DebateReligion". Just because someone takes a position in a debate doesn't mean that it's their personal belief.
  - maxbond 4y ago
    In a formal debate setting? Sure. In a debate where everyone elects to participate and what they'll be arguing - and when someone consistently, across multiple forums, including places that are not for religious debate, takes similar views (eg, he seems to consistently say that laws of the state are de facto moral unless they contradict the teachings of the church/"a higher law", with his views on slavery being a special case of this broader position)? Seems like a reasonable inference.
    - imgabe 4y ago
      What he's actually saying in the Reddit thread linked in the sibling comment is that the Catholic church condones slavery in some circumstances (I'd have to take his word about that, I don't know anything about church doctrine) and that insofar as the church is the expression of God's will, that makes it moral. It's no crazier than any other religious belief if you're going to imagine some omnipotent deity just makes up whatever rules they want and they're beyond human reasoning. I have no idea what the circumstances are in which the Church condones slavery, but it's not like the guy is arguing that we should reinstate plantations or that Epstein was a good guy who did nothing wrong or anything.
      - maxbond 4y ago
        I'd encourage you not to take his word for it, these are extreme views that are not reflective of Catholics in general (and I saw at least one person in those threads pointing this out, though I didn't read the threads closely). I've met at least one Catholic who would describe his views as heretical. I'd also encourage you to reexamine if "slavery is okay sometimes" is really equivalently "crazy" to other religious ideas (like say, "love thy neighbor"), I think that is pretty uncharitable to religious people. He might not address Epstein, but he does argue that "heretics can be executed as long as there's due process." That is some low key religious fascism ("it's okay to execute heretics as long as we control the government first"). Most Catholics I know oppose the death penalty (they successfully lobbied to make it illegal where I live, because they felt it was incompatible with their religious convictions). You might look more into "Traditionalist Catholicism" if you are interested. I enjoyed this short (45m) documentary. https://youtu.be/icwDF8wRgF4 https://youtu.be/icwDF8wRgF4
- anon291 4y ago
  By the Catholic definition of slavery (depriving a wage earner of their wage), all countries on the planet practice some form of slavery, typically in the form of debt slavery. Attaching nice words to it like 'wage garnishment' does not change the substance of the act. That being said, I know Luke well from various online fora (di not know he was a BTC dev til today, but it makes so much sense), and he's a bit of an A*hole
bulbosaur123 4y ago
"Lost"...sure, what a convenient tax writeoff
- hansonkd 4y ago
  On the last day of the year to claim it too. What a coincidence.
- FatalLogic 4y ago
  The timing of his claimed loss is suspiciously convenient in regard to a supposed tax writeoff scam, assuming that is possible, but he is a deeply eccentric man. A discussion earlier on HN [1] mentions many examples of his (alleged) activities and core beliefs that I think it's fair to say many will consider abnormal, even by the standards of cryptocurrency and libertarian circles You really should read more about him to see how this incident might be more plausible in the context of such an unusual individual's unique and non-mainstream lifestyle [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34210583 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34210583
- driverdan 4y ago
  You don't seem to understand taxes, that doesn't make any sense.
  - Double_a_92 4y ago
    Some countries have a wealth tax. If he legally "lost" those assets, he doesn't have to pay taxes on them?
    - gruez 4y ago
      Very few countries have a wealth tax, and US is definitely not one of them.
  - anon291 4y ago
    Theft is a tax deduction.
britneybitch 4y ago
It looks like he kept his keys on a server that he knew was compromised since November. Not great opsec, to put it lightly. https://twitter.com/pic/orig/media%2FFlakyMWWAAIUDPl.png https://twitter.com/pic/orig/media%2FFlakyMWWAAIUDPl.png
- nibbleshifter 4y ago
  It was compromised more than once. He kept claiming it must be physical access, but the information he shared about the attacks points more to an IPMI, BMC, iLO or iDRAC type interface being unsecured. He also didn't use FDE on the server which made the attacks possible...
- freeqaz 4y ago
  That link 404s. Got a backup?
  - britneybitch 4y ago
    https://bird.trom.tf/pic/orig/media%2FFlakyMWWAAIUDPl.png https://bird.trom.tf/pic/orig/media%2FFlakyMWWAAIUDPl.png https://nitter.fly.dev/pic/orig/media%2FFlakyMWWAAIUDPl.png https://nitter.fly.dev/pic/orig/media%2FFlakyMWWAAIUDPl.png https://i.imgur.com/tvudOcO.png https://i.imgur.com/tvudOcO.png
- gruez 4y ago
  AFAIK he explicitly denies this: https://twitter.com/LukeDashjr/status/1609683917644120067 https://twitter.com/LukeDashjr/status/1609683917644120067
  - pmarreck 4y ago
    "britneybitch" below has screenshots that seem to indicate he admitted it when he figured out he got compromised in November
giuliomagnifico 4y ago
He has lost them, but surely someone else has found them! Anyway it’s a story to follow.
trudler 4y ago
that must be a tax evasion incident. i can't believe a CORE DEV would be as dumb as keeping everything in a hot wallet on his computer, where he does all kinds of stuff.
- iLoveOncall 4y ago
  This guy is an absolute nutcase though: https://www.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/4936kw/lukejr_is_a_seriously_a_super_crazy_person_quotes/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/4936kw/lukejr_is_...
  - barbazoo 4y ago
    Wow all the way to the sun revolving around the earth. Ok, 14 years ago but still...
  - aliqot 4y ago
    Are all Christians absolute nutcases? All I see is someone who's devout, or possibly belonging to a fundamentalist sect of Christianity. Despite how progressive we nerd types signal to be, HN can sure be a boy's club of in-groups sometimes. I'll take my downvotes, I mean it. You guys in this comment thread are not bringing value to this discussion.
    - feanaro 4y ago
      I would argue that anyone who professes beliefs such as the person in question is, in fact, an "absolute nutcase". The extreme beliefs themselves are what makes someone a nutcase. A primary example of such a nutcase belief complex is: 1. That X is the only true religion. 2. That believing in false things is not a natural right and is heresy. 3. That heresy can and should be punished. This belief complex has been demonstrated publicly by the mentioned person.
      - aliqot 4y ago
        Didn't think this level of Xenophobia would fly on HN, but I'm not exactly surprised either.
cokeandpepsi 4y ago
code is law
majewsky 4y ago
> The incident has also caught the attention of Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who offered condolences and support in a Jan. 1 post. > > “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," he wrote. The difference between Bitcoin and TradFi shrinks every day.
- hartator 4y ago
  > If it comes our way, we will freeze it. So much for “Code is law”.
  - nubb 4y ago
    everyone is watching the avi case now to see whether a court will rule code is law. going to be super interesting to watch play out.
  - arez 4y ago
    yes, but that obviously doesn't apply anymore when you add it to an exchange, which seems fair tbh. I'm not a blockchain shill by any means
  - pjkundert 4y ago
    I assume you must understand how Bitcoin works, so… Moving cryptocurrencies around barriers such as custodial exchanges freezing/losing/stealing it is one of the “superpowers” that makes real Crypto valuable. Any thief dumb enough to deposit their stolen goods onto someone’s exchange deserves to have it frozen — heck, if they deposited it into my wallet, that’s what I wound do! Explain again how this defeats “code is law”?
    - eternalban 4y ago
      It doesn't defeat it, it merely underlines that bitcoin platitudes evaporate in the light of practical use of "crypto". Related sayings: "Feet of clay", "Emperor has no clothes". etc.
svdr 4y ago
As a Bitcoin OG I would expect him to have more then 200 BTC.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- dannyw 4y ago
  Way, way more. This is a 2011 era bitcoin core developer. I'd be shocked if he doesn't have thousands in paper wallets.
knorker 4y ago
This shows again that even literally core bitcoin people are not competent to run their own banks. What chance does the unbanked have? They'll have a much better chance in traditional banking.
- gruez 4y ago
  >This shows again that even literally core bitcoin people are not competent to run their own banks. I guess that’s true, but only in the sense of “even core devs can get lazy/stupid/cocky and fail to implement basic security measures (eg. hardware wallets)”, not “securing bitcoins is such an impossible feat that even a bitcoin core dev can do it”
  - knorker 4y ago
    Right. I'm not saying it literally impossible to do it right. I'm saying it's impossible to achieve mainstream audience competence. In other words: the states aims of cryptocurrencies don't scale in this aspect either. For the mainstream the advice becomes: Don't leave your coins in an exchange or other third party. But also don't manage it yourself. Leaving no option.
  - thefounder 4y ago
    Even the security experts fall to phishing scams. Should we stop using the internet for financial transactions? After decades of stupid "secure" password policies and lately almost worthless sms/otp as second factor auth the industry finally came up with a real solution: webauthn. I think that if a webauthn like solution is provided for crypto storage then you won't see wallets stolen anymore.
Mistletoe 4y ago
“Lost coins only make everyone else's coins worth slightly more. Think of it as a donation to everyone.” -Satoshi Nakamoto Also Luke Jr is pretty much a terrible person so I won’t shed tears on this one. Perhaps a stroll by this would have been useful for a core dev with $3.2 million in a wallet stored in a profoundly stupid way on a server. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Multi-signature https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Multi-signature
- voytec 4y ago
  > core dev with $3.2 million in a wallet stored in a profoundly stupid way on a server. Compromised server[1]... [1] https://twitter.com/LukeDashjr/status/1593227756841578496 https://twitter.com/LukeDashjr/status/1593227756841578496
- api 4y ago
  That Satoshi quote contains layers and layers of ignorance about economics. Donation of what? It only makes sense if the purpose of Bitcoin is to go up in fiat denominated terms, but that’s not a currency it’s a Ponzi scheme.
  - mensetmanusman 4y ago
    It’s like QE being a tax on everyone, and tightening being a donation to everyone.
  - Geee 4y ago
    Of course the purpose is to make it go up in fiat denominated terms, but it doesn't make it a Ponzi scheme. It's just a better currency. Only an irrational person uses currency that is designed to lose value, compared to one that isn't.
  - gruez 4y ago
    >Donation of what? It only makes sense if the purpose of Bitcoin is to go up in fiat denominated terms, but that’s not a currency it’s a Ponzi scheme. I think you're either reading too much into it, or are interpreting "donation" too literally. He's just pointing out the very simple fact that if there is less of a scarce resource, then the value of what remains goes up, all things being equal. He's not advocating that people burn their bitcoins intentionally to make everyone rich or whatever. The whole thing is just a subtle joke, and it seems like you missed it.
zubairq 4y ago
I actually wrote about how Bitcoin security would need banks and security guards back in 2015: "Another things that will push the price of Bitcoins up is the cost to store Bitcoin's will be very high, as Bitcoin storage companies will need to have paper wallets, vaults, security guards, insurance and many things we associate with a tradition bank, and this will be an ongoing cost, which will only get more and more expensive since Bitcoins are limited in number and demand will only go up. So I would not be surprised one to day see the million dollar Bitcoin!" Link here: https://www.castoshi.net/blog/bitcoin-is-terrible-for-consumers-but-for-the-enterprise-it-is-a-match-made-in-heaven https://www.castoshi.net/blog/bitcoin-is-terrible-for-consum...

70 points by gennarro 4y ago

fsflover 4y ago

Current discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34210583 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34210583.

optimalsolver 4y ago

[flagged]

virtualritz 4y ago
Can you give a source for this?
- Reason077 4y ago
  A quick search turned up this collection of wisdom: https://www.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/4936kw/lukejr_is_a_seriously_a_super_crazy_person_quotes/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/4936kw/lukejr_is_...
  - user3939382 4y ago
    Some of the examples that he’s crazy there are just rules from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can disagree with it but being Catholic doesn’t make you crazy.
    - fs111 4y ago
      > You can disagree with it but being Catholic doesn’t make you crazy. Yes it does. Just because crazy ideas are spread by an old religious organization does not make them any less crazy. There is no provable god. Any of their beliefs are just that, beliefs. Nothing they "teach" can be verified or measured. It is all made up nonsense and you might as well call it crazy. People do not raise from the dead. We die, that's it.
      - maxbond 4y ago
        I don't think it's necessary to denounce religion to criticize these views, and that's usually viewed as flamebait.
      - mindslight 4y ago
        > Just because crazy ideas are spread by an old religious organization does not make them any less crazy. I agree with this, for provably wrong, generally accepted as wrong, or blatantly contradictory statements. But from a secular perspective, believing in god(s) is just an approximation or heuristic. Some people need or want that. For my own thinking I've judged it as an questionable axiom that creates a logic hole large enough to drive a bulldozer through, but to each their own. What actually matters is the conclusions and behaviors a person builds on top of it.
      - anon291 4y ago
        Catholic moral teaching on homosexuality does not require there to be a God. In fact the reasoning is entirely secular. You may disagree with it, but that is the case. Catholic moral teaching on slavery is based on there being a God. When it comes to marriage, the church believes that relations between men and women that can result in the generation of a child are worthy of special privileges. Relations between impotent men or women who cannot have sex are similarly not considered marriage. If you can find two men or two women who produced a child, the church would change its beliefs, but no one has been able to do so. Note that there's no dependence on their being a god for this one. The fact that heterosexual couplings produce children is an observation. That this relationship should come with societal privilege is a statement one can come to through reason.
        pmarreck 4y ago
        > Relations between impotent men or women who cannot have sex are similarly not considered marriage Is this indeed so?
        anon291 4y ago
        Yes, men who cannot have erections due to permanent disability or women without vaginas (whether due to surgery or existing disability) cannot marry in the church. It's always been the case.
    - maxbond 4y ago
      In my limited understanding as a non-Catholic, some of these are Traditionalist Catholic takes (notably the geocentrism), eg, rejecting the mild reforms of Vatican II. So, it being just the Catechism is something I think many Catholics would take issue with. I can't imagine any of the Catholics I've ever met offering up a defense of slavery.
      - user3939382 4y ago
        Some, some are almost verbatim out of the current (post-Vatican II) Catechism.
    - jsjohnst 4y ago
      Except he’s not “Catholic” (at least by what most define that as). Apparently he’s a sedevacantism follower.
    - voytec 4y ago
      It's ancient stuff which can be interpreted and translated to modern language but should not be taken literally. Apart from this, religions were created as means of society control. Some people need religion, some can find spirituality without it, some don't have such needs. This guy appears to be a person who would set someone on fire to make sure that they're not a witch.
      - user3939382 4y ago
        > It's ancient stuff which can be interpreted and translated to modern language but should not be taken literally. That's a debate that belongs to the Bible not the Catechism. The Catechism is updated all the time and published in an authorized modern English version.
    - thefounder 4y ago
      >> You can disagree with it but being Catholic doesn’t make you crazy. No more crazy than some people in the middle east. They are not crazy but you can say they are religious fanatics or as the people in the U.S prefer to say Right-Wing
- Beltalowda 4y ago
  https://old.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/4936kw/lukejr_is_a_seriously_a_super_crazy_person_quotes/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/4936kw/lukejr_is_... Don't think it matters though; theft is still theft even if the victim is a nutjob, and it's still theft if he didn't protect his keys well enough. But today a crime is okay if you don't like someone. Hmkay.
  - trudler 4y ago
    On a second thought: He reads like an extremely religious person. This actually makes me doubt the "tax evasion" story.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - tonetheman 4y ago
      [dead]
  - petee 4y ago
    I see it as accepting karma; the guy is clealy an idiot and an ass, and was responsible for losing their own money. Like if someone spread their money all over their lawn to show off; when it gets stolen, I'm not supporting the theft, but I can definitely laugh at the "victim" who did it to themselves. There is room for personal responsibility here...
    - Beltalowda 4y ago
      There's a difference between "I'm ok with this" (which is what the comment further upthread said) and "lol, what an idiot". The first indicates approval of the crime, the second does not. Plus, it was purely based on his personal views, and not his op-sec (or lack thereof). Besides, it's not like he strewn all his money on the lawn; stealing the wallet + GPG key still took some significant effort. More like leaving a lot of money in the house with a shabby door and lock: not a smart idea, but you'd still have to break through the front door – crappy as it may be – to get at it. It wasn't a "crime of opportunity".
pxmpxm 4y ago
[flagged]
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
ergonaught 4y ago
He has written a large number of things that demonstrate he is cognitively impaired. It's weird watching folks either engaging in "blaming the victim" or "laughing at the disabled" around this guy. He appears to be astoundingly, cripplingly stupid. Core dev, huh? Yeah. Cool.
- petee 4y ago
  Cognitively impared, or just an asshole? Its a very fine line
- gruez 4y ago
  >He appears to be astoundingly, cripplingly stupid. Core dev, huh? Yeah. Cool. Is that an issue? His contributions are peer reviewed, just like with everyone else's contributions (anyone can submit PRs). Or do you work at place that would fire well performing team members if it was found out they believed in something that was "astoundingly, cripplingly stupid"?
  - ergonaught 4y ago
    You basically just rationalized the ChatGPT Development Team, coming to everywhere near you. Yes, someone who appears to get things right by accident would eventually be removed in almost every place I’ve worked, except when that person was in charge.
imgabe 4y ago
It's in a subreddit called "DebateReligion". Just because someone takes a position in a debate doesn't mean that it's their personal belief.
- maxbond 4y ago
  In a formal debate setting? Sure. In a debate where everyone elects to participate and what they'll be arguing - and when someone consistently, across multiple forums, including places that are not for religious debate, takes similar views (eg, he seems to consistently say that laws of the state are de facto moral unless they contradict the teachings of the church/"a higher law", with his views on slavery being a special case of this broader position)? Seems like a reasonable inference.
  - imgabe 4y ago
    What he's actually saying in the Reddit thread linked in the sibling comment is that the Catholic church condones slavery in some circumstances (I'd have to take his word about that, I don't know anything about church doctrine) and that insofar as the church is the expression of God's will, that makes it moral. It's no crazier than any other religious belief if you're going to imagine some omnipotent deity just makes up whatever rules they want and they're beyond human reasoning. I have no idea what the circumstances are in which the Church condones slavery, but it's not like the guy is arguing that we should reinstate plantations or that Epstein was a good guy who did nothing wrong or anything.
    - maxbond 4y ago
      I'd encourage you not to take his word for it, these are extreme views that are not reflective of Catholics in general (and I saw at least one person in those threads pointing this out, though I didn't read the threads closely). I've met at least one Catholic who would describe his views as heretical. I'd also encourage you to reexamine if "slavery is okay sometimes" is really equivalently "crazy" to other religious ideas (like say, "love thy neighbor"), I think that is pretty uncharitable to religious people. He might not address Epstein, but he does argue that "heretics can be executed as long as there's due process." That is some low key religious fascism ("it's okay to execute heretics as long as we control the government first"). Most Catholics I know oppose the death penalty (they successfully lobbied to make it illegal where I live, because they felt it was incompatible with their religious convictions). You might look more into "Traditionalist Catholicism" if you are interested. I enjoyed this short (45m) documentary. https://youtu.be/icwDF8wRgF4 https://youtu.be/icwDF8wRgF4
anon291 4y ago
By the Catholic definition of slavery (depriving a wage earner of their wage), all countries on the planet practice some form of slavery, typically in the form of debt slavery. Attaching nice words to it like 'wage garnishment' does not change the substance of the act. That being said, I know Luke well from various online fora (di not know he was a BTC dev til today, but it makes so much sense), and he's a bit of an A*hole

bulbosaur123 4y ago

"Lost"...sure, what a convenient tax writeoff

hansonkd 4y ago
On the last day of the year to claim it too. What a coincidence.
FatalLogic 4y ago
The timing of his claimed loss is suspiciously convenient in regard to a supposed tax writeoff scam, assuming that is possible, but he is a deeply eccentric man. A discussion earlier on HN [1] mentions many examples of his (alleged) activities and core beliefs that I think it's fair to say many will consider abnormal, even by the standards of cryptocurrency and libertarian circles You really should read more about him to see how this incident might be more plausible in the context of such an unusual individual's unique and non-mainstream lifestyle [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34210583 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34210583
driverdan 4y ago
You don't seem to understand taxes, that doesn't make any sense.
- Double_a_92 4y ago
  Some countries have a wealth tax. If he legally "lost" those assets, he doesn't have to pay taxes on them?
  - gruez 4y ago
    Very few countries have a wealth tax, and US is definitely not one of them.
- anon291 4y ago
  Theft is a tax deduction.

britneybitch 4y ago

It looks like he kept his keys on a server that he knew was compromised since November. Not great opsec, to put it lightly. https://twitter.com/pic/orig/media%2FFlakyMWWAAIUDPl.png https://twitter.com/pic/orig/media%2FFlakyMWWAAIUDPl.png

nibbleshifter 4y ago
It was compromised more than once. He kept claiming it must be physical access, but the information he shared about the attacks points more to an IPMI, BMC, iLO or iDRAC type interface being unsecured. He also didn't use FDE on the server which made the attacks possible...
freeqaz 4y ago
That link 404s. Got a backup?
- britneybitch 4y ago
  https://bird.trom.tf/pic/orig/media%2FFlakyMWWAAIUDPl.png https://bird.trom.tf/pic/orig/media%2FFlakyMWWAAIUDPl.png https://nitter.fly.dev/pic/orig/media%2FFlakyMWWAAIUDPl.png https://nitter.fly.dev/pic/orig/media%2FFlakyMWWAAIUDPl.png https://i.imgur.com/tvudOcO.png https://i.imgur.com/tvudOcO.png
gruez 4y ago
AFAIK he explicitly denies this: https://twitter.com/LukeDashjr/status/1609683917644120067 https://twitter.com/LukeDashjr/status/1609683917644120067
- pmarreck 4y ago
  "britneybitch" below has screenshots that seem to indicate he admitted it when he figured out he got compromised in November

giuliomagnifico 4y ago

He has lost them, but surely someone else has found them! Anyway it’s a story to follow.

trudler 4y ago

that must be a tax evasion incident. i can't believe a CORE DEV would be as dumb as keeping everything in a hot wallet on his computer, where he does all kinds of stuff.

iLoveOncall 4y ago
This guy is an absolute nutcase though: https://www.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/4936kw/lukejr_is_a_seriously_a_super_crazy_person_quotes/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/4936kw/lukejr_is_...
- barbazoo 4y ago
  Wow all the way to the sun revolving around the earth. Ok, 14 years ago but still...
- aliqot 4y ago
  Are all Christians absolute nutcases? All I see is someone who's devout, or possibly belonging to a fundamentalist sect of Christianity. Despite how progressive we nerd types signal to be, HN can sure be a boy's club of in-groups sometimes. I'll take my downvotes, I mean it. You guys in this comment thread are not bringing value to this discussion.
  - feanaro 4y ago
    I would argue that anyone who professes beliefs such as the person in question is, in fact, an "absolute nutcase". The extreme beliefs themselves are what makes someone a nutcase. A primary example of such a nutcase belief complex is: 1. That X is the only true religion. 2. That believing in false things is not a natural right and is heresy. 3. That heresy can and should be punished. This belief complex has been demonstrated publicly by the mentioned person.
    - aliqot 4y ago
      Didn't think this level of Xenophobia would fly on HN, but I'm not exactly surprised either.

cokeandpepsi 4y ago

code is law

majewsky 4y ago

> The incident has also caught the attention of Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who offered condolences and support in a Jan. 1 post. > > “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," he wrote. The difference between Bitcoin and TradFi shrinks every day.

hartator 4y ago
> If it comes our way, we will freeze it. So much for “Code is law”.
- nubb 4y ago
  everyone is watching the avi case now to see whether a court will rule code is law. going to be super interesting to watch play out.
- arez 4y ago
  yes, but that obviously doesn't apply anymore when you add it to an exchange, which seems fair tbh. I'm not a blockchain shill by any means
- pjkundert 4y ago
  I assume you must understand how Bitcoin works, so… Moving cryptocurrencies around barriers such as custodial exchanges freezing/losing/stealing it is one of the “superpowers” that makes real Crypto valuable. Any thief dumb enough to deposit their stolen goods onto someone’s exchange deserves to have it frozen — heck, if they deposited it into my wallet, that’s what I wound do! Explain again how this defeats “code is law”?
  - eternalban 4y ago
    It doesn't defeat it, it merely underlines that bitcoin platitudes evaporate in the light of practical use of "crypto". Related sayings: "Feet of clay", "Emperor has no clothes". etc.

svdr 4y ago

As a Bitcoin OG I would expect him to have more then 200 BTC.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
dannyw 4y ago
Way, way more. This is a 2011 era bitcoin core developer. I'd be shocked if he doesn't have thousands in paper wallets.

knorker 4y ago

This shows again that even literally core bitcoin people are not competent to run their own banks. What chance does the unbanked have? They'll have a much better chance in traditional banking.

gruez 4y ago
>This shows again that even literally core bitcoin people are not competent to run their own banks. I guess that’s true, but only in the sense of “even core devs can get lazy/stupid/cocky and fail to implement basic security measures (eg. hardware wallets)”, not “securing bitcoins is such an impossible feat that even a bitcoin core dev can do it”
- knorker 4y ago
  Right. I'm not saying it literally impossible to do it right. I'm saying it's impossible to achieve mainstream audience competence. In other words: the states aims of cryptocurrencies don't scale in this aspect either. For the mainstream the advice becomes: Don't leave your coins in an exchange or other third party. But also don't manage it yourself. Leaving no option.
- thefounder 4y ago
  Even the security experts fall to phishing scams. Should we stop using the internet for financial transactions? After decades of stupid "secure" password policies and lately almost worthless sms/otp as second factor auth the industry finally came up with a real solution: webauthn. I think that if a webauthn like solution is provided for crypto storage then you won't see wallets stolen anymore.

Mistletoe 4y ago

“Lost coins only make everyone else's coins worth slightly more. Think of it as a donation to everyone.” -Satoshi Nakamoto Also Luke Jr is pretty much a terrible person so I won’t shed tears on this one. Perhaps a stroll by this would have been useful for a core dev with $3.2 million in a wallet stored in a profoundly stupid way on a server. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Multi-signature https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Multi-signature

voytec 4y ago
> core dev with $3.2 million in a wallet stored in a profoundly stupid way on a server. Compromised server[1]... [1] https://twitter.com/LukeDashjr/status/1593227756841578496 https://twitter.com/LukeDashjr/status/1593227756841578496
api 4y ago
That Satoshi quote contains layers and layers of ignorance about economics. Donation of what? It only makes sense if the purpose of Bitcoin is to go up in fiat denominated terms, but that’s not a currency it’s a Ponzi scheme.
- mensetmanusman 4y ago
  It’s like QE being a tax on everyone, and tightening being a donation to everyone.
- Geee 4y ago
  Of course the purpose is to make it go up in fiat denominated terms, but it doesn't make it a Ponzi scheme. It's just a better currency. Only an irrational person uses currency that is designed to lose value, compared to one that isn't.
- gruez 4y ago
  >Donation of what? It only makes sense if the purpose of Bitcoin is to go up in fiat denominated terms, but that’s not a currency it’s a Ponzi scheme. I think you're either reading too much into it, or are interpreting "donation" too literally. He's just pointing out the very simple fact that if there is less of a scarce resource, then the value of what remains goes up, all things being equal. He's not advocating that people burn their bitcoins intentionally to make everyone rich or whatever. The whole thing is just a subtle joke, and it seems like you missed it.

zubairq 4y ago

I actually wrote about how Bitcoin security would need banks and security guards back in 2015: "Another things that will push the price of Bitcoins up is the cost to store Bitcoin's will be very high, as Bitcoin storage companies will need to have paper wallets, vaults, security guards, insurance and many things we associate with a tradition bank, and this will be an ongoing cost, which will only get more and more expensive since Bitcoins are limited in number and demand will only go up. So I would not be surprised one to day see the million dollar Bitcoin!" Link here: https://www.castoshi.net/blog/bitcoin-is-terrible-for-consumers-but-for-the-enterprise-it-is-a-match-made-in-heaven https://www.castoshi.net/blog/bitcoin-is-terrible-for-consum...