US Authorities Transfer $922 Million in Seized Bitfinex Hack Bitcoins

On February 28, two wallets associated with the coins seized in the Bitfinex hack case made multiple transfers to unidentified addresses. This information is available on the Arkham Intelligence platform.

The first wallet initially transferred 1 BTC, followed by a transaction of 2817 BTC (~$172.74 million).

Another wallet sent 0.01 BTC and 12,267 BTC ($748.46 million).

The transfers coincided with a sharp rise in the price of the leading cryptocurrency to $64,000. During the day, there was a 30-minute period during which the asset’s value dropped from its peak to $59,000.

In early August 2016, Bitfinex lost nearly 120,000 BTC ($71.8 million at the time, over $5 billion at current rates) due to a hack and temporarily suspended operations.

In May 2020, unknown individuals sent 30.667192 BTC of the stolen funds to anonymous addresses. In August, 4571 BTC and 473.3183 BTC were moved.

In the same month, Bitfinex announced a $400 million reward for assistance in recovering the funds stolen from the platform in 2016.

In February 2022, US authorities announced the arrest of 34-year-old Ilya Lichtenstein and 31-year-old Heather Morgan, linked to the platform’s hack, and the seizure of $3.6 billion in bitcoins. Later, the accused was released on $3 million bail, while Lichtenstein remained in custody.

In August 2023, the couple pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money. Morgan faces up to 10 years in prison, while Lichtenstein faces up to 20 years. The latter denies involvement in the Bitfinex hack.

In 2022, Netflix announced a documentary series about Morgan and Lichtenstein. The director will be Chris Smith (“FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened”).