2016 Bitfinex hack

The <a href="/facts/Bitfinex/LMHPm2m3">Bitfinex</a> <a href="/facts/Cryptocurrency_exchange/PBbzsc11">cryptocurrency exchange</a> was hacked in August 2016. 119,756 <a href="/facts/Bitcoin/UJvqfray">bitcoins</a>, worth about US$72 million at the time, were stolen.
In February 2022, the US government recovered and seized a portion of the stolen bitcoin, then worth US$3.6 billion, by decrypting a file owned by Ilya Lichtenstein (born 1989) that contained <a href="/facts/Cryptocurrency_wallet/5Aajl4Qc">addresses and private keys</a> associated with the stolen funds. Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather R. Morgan (born 1991), were charged with conspiracy to <a href="/facts/Money_laundering/98Gw3mgx">launder</a> the stolen bitcoin. In August 2023, Lichtenstein admitted to committing the theft. Both Lichtenstein and Morgan pleaded guilty to money laundering.
In November 2024, Lichtenstein was sentenced to five years in a US prison for his involvement in money laundering the stolen bitcoin. Morgan was sentenced to 18 months in prison for fraud and conspiracy charges.

2016 Bitfinex hack open-in-new

2016 Bitfinex hack