U.S. Authorities Seize $3.6 Worth Bitcoin Tied To 2016 Bitfinex Hack

U.S. authorities have traced most of the Bitcoin stolen from crypto exchange Bitfinex, after the coins finally moved addresses last week. 

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday that it has seized $3.6 billion worth of bitcoin in relation to the 2016 Bitfinex hack. 

The FBI has arrested a husband and wife – Ilya Lichtenstein (34) and Heather Morgan (31) – in Manhattan for allegedly conspiring to launder swaths of Bitcoin connected to the 2016 Bitfinex exchange hack.

According to a Reuters report, the couple is accused of conspiring to launder 119,754 Bitcoin after an attacker stole them through over 20,000 unauthorized transactions at the exchange in 2016.

At the time of the hack the BTC was worth $71.8, at today’s valuation the total exceeds over $4.5 billion. As a comparison, MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings are currently close to 125,000 Bitcoin.

A week ago tens of thousands of Bitcoin were caught moving from the initial 2016 hacker’s wallet across 26 separate transactions, which finally led the authorities to arrest the couple.

“The FBI and federal prosecutors were able to trace the movement of Bitcoin from this hack,” said Matthew Graves, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.