So was he not even using a passphrase? I'm assuming he wasn't using a multisig setup.
Hard to believe someone with his level of knowledge wasn't using something as simple as a passphrase. With the large amount of funds involved
and his advanced technical expertise he should have been using a multisig setup but if not then the next best thing would be a passphrase aka hidden wallet.
If Dashjr was using a passphrase there would be little chance anyone could get access to his bitcoin, even if they had his seedphrase.
The other possibility is that he was using a passphrase but stored it in the same location as his seedphrase, but that would totally defeat the purpose of a passphrase.
Your passphrase should be stored only in your head IMO.
by all accounts and use of common sense to stitch the stories/revelations together
he did not use seeds, he did not use passphrase.
he had funds on LEGACY private key(which pre-dates seeds) on a hotwallet accessible via a server, which was accessible via a device which he carried with him to a conference/meetup which he must have allowed strangers/multiple people access or exposure to
passphrases, seeds, private keys are only secure if they are cold stored(airgapped/physically not on a device)... and not in a active wallet of an open node thats is remotely accessible/stranger accessible
it doesnt matter in this case if its a passphrase, seed, private key if key(of any format) is in a node is operating as a hotwallet
eg a desktop login password is only as good as the human ensuring they log out when they step away from their desk
If Dashjr was using a passphrase there would be little chance anyone could get access to his bitcoin, even if they had his seedphrase.
Your passphrase should be stored only in your head IMO.
There is no seedphrase. Bitcoin core doesn't have seedphrase.
Was there any rationale for Dashjr to be storing such a massive quantity of bitcoins in a hot wallet?
I had to look up bitcoin core wallet to get an idea how they work. The consensus on reddit seems to be they should not be used for long term storage or any large amounts of bitcoin.
They appear to be like any other hot wallet in terms of their level of security that is connected to the internet and should be treated like any other hot wallet--for temporary use and
only for smaller amounts, not long term storage of your life savings. What was he was thinking?
He wasn't using just any hot wallet but a legacy hot wallet to boot, which makes it even worse, as legacy software of any kind is usually less secure than more recent versions. Crazy!