by Key Takeaways
- In 2016, Ilya Lichtenstein stole 119,754 bitcoins from Bitfinex and was given a five-year prison sentence.
- Even if it was valued much less back then, Bitcoin would now be worth more than $10.7 billion.
- Heather Morgan, Lichtenstein’s wife, is scheduled to be sentenced on November 18th for her involvement in money laundering.
Five years in prison have been imposed on a guilty suspect in the 2016 breach of Bitfinex, a significant cryptocurrency exchange.
According to the US Department of Justice, Ilya Lichtenstein stole about 120,000 bitcoins using a sophisticated combination of strategies. After breaking into the exchange, Lichtenstein moved 119,754 Bitcoin into a secret wallet and started more than 2,000 transactions. He erased information from several log files, including Bitfinex’s network access passwords, to make tracing challenging.
After the hack was finished, concealment efforts persisted. With the help of his wife, Heather Morgan, Lichtenstein allegedly began laundering the Bitcoin through darknet marketplaces and exchanges, cryptocurrency “mixing” services, fake online personas, and cryptocurrency conversion services, according to the Department of Justice. Although the couple also turned some of their money into gold coins, they used US business accounts to give the impression that their banking was legitimate.
Morgan and Lichtenstein pled guilty to money laundering conspiracy charges in August 2023. Morgan’s sentencing is set for November 18. Lichtenstein’s sentence will include three years of supervised release in addition to his jail time.
According to The Verge, the estimated worth of Liechtenstein’s larceny at the time was $61 million. Although there were doubts that Bitfinex would even make it through the loss, the exchange is still in operation today. At current exchange rates, the theft would be valued at almost $10.7 billion.
With millions or billions of dollars at risk in the event of a successful assault, cryptocurrency exchanges have become a frequent target for hackers. A $620 million raid on Ronin Network in March 2022 was the biggest robbery in recent memory. Lazarus Group, a collective supported by the North Korean government, was implicated in the tragedy.
