Heather Morgan, accused of laundering billions in bitcoins linked to the 2016 Bitfinex exchange hack, has been spotted at several cryptocurrency conferences, including Bitcoin 2024. Her presence has sparked controversy within the community.
She is the one next to the waitress. pic.twitter.com/C25NLo30iV
— Demelza Hays, Ph.D. (@CryptoPhD) July 28, 2024
Bitcoin developer and Casa co-founder Jameson Lopp described the situation as highly suspicious. He urged event organizers to view Morgan as a potential threat and deny her entry.
?PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT?
Heather Morgan, AKA ‘Razzlekhan’ is a self proclaimed social engineer who pleaded guilty to hacking Bitfinex for 120,000 BTC back in 2016.
I crossed paths with her in Nashville this week. After asking around I discovered she has been spotted at… pic.twitter.com/HxQTgBlTmx
— Jameson Lopp (@lopp) July 28, 2024
Despite the charges and her guilty plea in August 2023, Morgan was released on a $3 million bail back in February 2022. Her husband and accomplice, Ilya Lichtenstein, is currently under house arrest. The judge considered him to have played a more significant role in planning the Bitfinex hack than his wife. Their case is scheduled for November 2024.
Reportedly, Morgan presented herself as a “Web3 consultant” at the events.
In a comment to Cointelegraph, Lopp speculated that the hacker has two reasons for attending crypto conferences. Either she is seeking consulting opportunities to pay off legal fines, or it is “an attempt to mitigate her sentence by gathering intelligence for the government.”
Explaining the espionage theory, Lopp stated that even someone ideologically opposed to the government rarely prefers additional prison time over cooperation.
Lopp’s stance faced criticism from X users. They argued that banning her from bitcoin conferences contradicts the industry’s spirit of inclusivity and openness.
In response, Lopp pointed out that no one can prevent Morgan from using bitcoin, but event attendees should be shielded from “known thieves” and other unscrupulous participants.
In August 2016, Bitfinex lost nearly 120,000 BTC ($71.8 million at the time, over $7.6 billion at current prices) and temporarily suspended operations.
On February 1, 2022, 94,643 BTC were moved. In the same month, U.S. authorities arrested Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, seizing 94,643 BTC ($3.6 billion at the time).
The couple faces up to 30 years in prison collectively.