US Government Continues Bitcoin Seizures, Controls Nearly 1% of Circulating Supply

Massive Bitcoin seizures from Bitfinex hackers add to US government stockpile. Snowden predicts major government entry into Bitcoin market.

View Details

Heather Morgan To Be Released on Bail; Ilya Lichtenstein Not So Lucky

View Details

The U.S. Department of Justice Recovers $3.6 Billion Stolen in Bitfinex Hack, Bitfinex Token Surges

One of the biggest crypto exchange hacks in history happened in August 2016 when 119,754 Bitcoin was stolen from the Hong Kong-based crypto exchange.

Continue reading The U.S. Department of Justice Recovers $3.6 Billion Stolen in Bitfinex Hack, Bitfinex Token Surges at DailyCoin.com.

View Details

Bitfinex-backed LEO soars to record high on supply crunch expectations

The token surged almost 70% in a day after the DOJ announced that it had recovered most of the stolen funds from the 2016 Bitfinex hack.

View Details

Weekend Wrap: Eliza Labs founder hacked, Boyaas Bitcoin bet pays off and more

World ID Orb verifications are available in the Philippines, Boyaa Interactive predicts a profit surge while Eliza Labs founders X account was hacked.

View Details

Only Bitfinex may get restitution in 2016 hack, per government filing

Bitfinex socialized the loss from the hack and reimbursed its customers within eight months, but potential victims can still come forward.

View Details

Bitfinex wallet hacker returns most of the $20 million back to US govt

According to security firm CertiK, crypto losses in Q3 2024 are up 9.5%, with more than $750 million in total funds stolen by threat actors.

View Details

US prosecutors urge judge to hand Bitfinex hack mastermind five-year sentence

The Bitfinex crypto hack resulted in the theft of 120,000 Bitcoin Ilya Lichtenstein used a series of sophisticated methods to hide the stolen funds between 2016 and 2022 He told his wife and co-conspirator about the hack in 2020 who then helped him to hide the stolen assets US prosecutors have told a judge that […]

The post US prosecutors urge judge to hand Bitfinex hack mastermind five-year sentence appeared first on CoinJournal.

View Details

US government says funds from 2016 hack should return to Bitfinex

Due to a prior reimbursement plan from Bitfinex, many victims of the 2016 hack do not legally qualify as victims eligible for reimbursement.

View Details

Breaking: New York Man Admits to $4.5B Bitfinex Hack

A New York resident accused of being behind the 2016 hack that led to a loss of Bitcoins worth USD $4.5 billion on Bitfinex pleaded guilty today (Thursday). Ilya Lichtenstein also pleaded guilty to laundering the stolen Bitcoins in a federal court in Washington, D.C.

According to a report by CNBC, Lichtenstein took the plea before his wife, Heather Rhiannon Morgan, who was among the audience in the courtroom. Lichtenstein and Morgan were arrested last year for allegedly laundering cryptocurrencies worth USD $4.5 billion stolen in 2016 from Bitfinex.

Lichtenstein to Remain in Custody

Lichtenstein, originally from Russia, has been under police custody since his arrest. His wife and accomplice Morgan, an aspiring rapper also known as ‘Razzlekahn’ or ‘The Crocodile of Wall Street’, was freed on a USD $3 million bond after her arrest.

Finance Magnates reported two weeks ago that the couple will appear before Senior Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelley in Washington, D.C. for the plea hearing for charges related to conspiracy to commit money laundering and defraud the United States.

According to the officials from the U.S. Department of Justice, Lichtenstein conspired alongside Morgan to launder 119,754 Bitcoins, worth an estimated USD $70 million at the time, at the time Bitfinex was hacked. When the duo was arrested, the DOJ seized 94,000 Bitcoins worth USD $3.6 billion, the largest seizure in the Department’s history.

Complex Money Laundering Scheme

Earlier, the DOJ explained that about 25,000 of the stolen Bitcoins were moved from Lichtenstein’s digital wallet in a complicated money laundering process that ended with some of the tokens being deposited in the couple’s accounts.

During the plea hearing, it was discovered that Lichtenstein had converted some of the allegedly stolen Bitcoins to gold coins, which Morgan had buried in a location now known to the law enforcement agencies. Additionally, it was revealed during the hearing that Lichtenstein traveled to Ukraine and Kazakhstan to launder the stolen funds.

Meanwhile, in May, a global network of investigative journalists claimed that Bitfinex never made public a report alleging that the exchange experienced security lapses that led to the hack. However, Bitfinex dismissed the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project’s (OCCRP) findings.

View Details

Breaking: New York Resident Admits to $4.5B Bitfinex Hack

A New York resident accused of being behind the 2016 hack that led to a loss of Bitcoins worth USD $4.5 billion on Bitfinex pleaded guilty today (Thursday). Ilya Lichtenstein also pleaded guilty to laundering the stolen Bitcoins in a federal court in Washington, D.C.

According to a report by CNBC, Lichtenstein took the plea before his wife, Heather Rhiannon Morgan, who was among the audience in the courtroom. Lichtenstein and Morgan were arrested last year for allegedly laundering cryptocurrencies worth USD $4.5 billion stolen from Bitfinex in 2016.

Lichtenstein to Remain in Custody

Lichtenstein, originally from Russia, has been under police custody since his arrest. His wife and accomplice Morgan, an aspiring rapper also known as ‘Razzlekahn’ or ‘The Crocodile of Wall Street’, was freed on a USD $3 million bond after her arrest.

Finance Magnates reported two weeks ago that the couple will appear before Senior Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelley in Washington, D.C. for a plea hearing for charges related to conspiracy to commit money laundering and defraud the United States.

According to the officials from the U.S. Department of Justice, Lichtenstein conspired with Morgan to launder 119,754 Bitcoins, then worth an estimated USD $70 million, at the time Bitfinex was hacked. When the duo was arrested, the DOJ seized 94,000 Bitcoins worth USD $3.6 billion, the largest seizure in the Department’s history.

Complex Money Laundering Scheme

Earlier, the DOJ explained that about 25,000 of the stolen Bitcoins were moved from Lichtenstein’s digital wallet in a complicated money laundering process that ended with some of the tokens being deposited in the couple’s accounts.

During the plea hearing, it was discovered that Lichtenstein had converted some of the allegedly stolen Bitcoins to gold coins, which Morgan had buried in a location now known to the law enforcement agencies. Additionally, it was revealed that Lichtenstein traveled to Ukraine and Kazakhstan to launder the stolen funds.

Meanwhile, in May, a global network of investigative journalists claimed that Bitfinex never made public a report alleging that the exchange experienced security lapses that led to the hack. However, Bitfinex dismissed the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project’s (OCCRP) findings.

View Details