Currently, Bitfinex stands as the sole claimant for compensation from the 2016 hack, which saw the theft of 119,754 BTC from the platform. This is according to court documents.
The US government stated it is unaware of any other parties entitled to compensation. However, authorities will proceed cautiously to ensure no potential victim is overlooked.
Following the hack, Bitfinex distributed the losses among users, resulting in a reduction of their balances by approximately 36%. In return, they were credited with issued BFX tokens. Coin holders could sell them on the market, redeem them at a fixed rate of $1, or exchange them for shares in the exchange’s parent company, iFinex.
All BFX were redeemed within eight months.
Authorities acknowledged that despite Bitfinex’s efforts to compensate affected users, there may still be “thousands of account holders” on the exchange who lost money due to the hack. To address the issue, the government proposed creating a website where potential victims can access information and file claims.
In 2022, US law enforcement detained 34-year-old Ilya Lichtenstein and 31-year-old Heather Morgan in connection with the hack. They confiscated over 94,000 BTC, valued at $3.6 billion at the time. It later emerged that the closure of the darknet market AlphaBay in 2017 helped lead to their capture.
The couple was charged with conspiracy to launder the proceeds of 119,754 BTC stolen from Bitfinex. On August 3, 2023, Lichtenstein and Morgan pleaded guilty. Sentencing is scheduled for November 14 and 15, 2024, respectively.
In February 2022, the court released Morgan on a $3 million bail. She was subsequently spotted at several crypto conferences, where the community suspected her of gathering information for the government.