Ilya Lichtenstein Admits Sole Responsibility for Bitfinex Hack

Convicted in the Bitfinex hack case, Ilya Lichtenstein claimed he executed the cyberattack on the cryptocurrency exchange alone, without the involvement of his family or other accomplices.

I have something to say#FreeRazzlekhan pic.twitter.com/9HIvOxcbgr

— Ilya Lichtenstein (@unrealdutch) December 19, 2024

“I planned and executed the Bitfinex heist entirely by myself. I bear full responsibility for what happened,” he said in a video released from prison.

Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan were arrested in February 2022 on suspicion of involvement in the platform attack. At that time, authorities seized 94,643 BTC (approximately $3.6 billion at the time) from the stolen 119,754 BTC.

In August 2023, both pleaded guilty to money laundering, but Lichtenstein disagreed with his role in the hack.

In November 2024, a U.S. court sentenced him to five years in prison for laundering the stolen exchange funds. Morgan received an 18-month sentence.

“I sincerely apologize to Bitfinex for all the stress I caused. For a long time, I made bad, selfish decisions one after another. I knew I was doing wrong, but I did it anyway because I didn’t care. I didn’t worry about anyone but myself,” Lichtenstein stated.

Regarding his wife, he noted that she was in no way involved in the hack, although she admitted to laundering “a small portion of the money.” According to the hacker, Morgan “didn’t know for years” what he had done.

“In many ways, my wife, whom I love so much, is just another victim of my poor decisions. She is not the Bitfinex hacker. I am,” Lichtenstein emphasized.

Morgan reposted her husband’s statement, commenting that he “refutes false claims from an unauthorized Netflix documentary.”

According to the authors of the film “The Biggest Heist in History,” the father of the Bitfinex hacker, Eugene Lichtenstein, is a hacker known as Deuce. They linked him to a 2005 bank attack in Indiana and suggested that Ilya acquired illegal cyber operation skills from him.

“Any claims that my elderly and not tech-savvy father was involved in any hacking activities are completely false and frankly absurd,” said Ilya Lichtenstein.

He stated that his father lived “an honest and law-abiding life” and was shocked by his son’s crime.

“No one but me is responsible for the hack. You don’t have to take my word for it. All court documents with the facts of the case are publicly available. You can read them yourself and make your decision,” Lichtenstein declared.

He assured that he has ceased illegal activities, as “years in prison are a powerful deterrent.” Upon release, Lichtenstein intends to work in the cybersecurity industry.

“I have a certain skill set. And I believe I can use it to do a lot of good in this field. No one knows the darknet better than someone who spent years in it. And no one understands a hacker’s mindset better than someone who was one,” he said.

Lichtenstein also noted his cooperation with authorities in the confiscation and return of the funds stolen from Bitfinex. Restitutions are expected to reach approximately $10 billion by the first quarter of 2025.

In October, U.S. authorities named the exchange as the sole claimant for compensation from the hack.