Reported: Bitfinex BFX (Exchange)
Compiled by ScamMarketCap from public recordsHappened Aug 2, 2016United States
In August 2016 a hacker broke into the Bitfinex exchange and, through more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions, moved 119,754 bitcoin, then worth about $71 million, to a wallet he controlled. In February 2022 US authorities arrested New York couple Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan and recovered about $3.6 billion in assets.
Lichtenstein pleaded guilty in August 2023 to money laundering conspiracy and admitted the hack. Morgan pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States. In November 2024 a federal judge in Washington sentenced him to five years in prison and her to 18 months. Both were released early: Morgan in 2025 and Lichtenstein, to home confinement, in January 2026.
Prosecutors had proposed returning the recovered bitcoin to Bitfinex, but in April 2025 the judge awarded Bitfinex $0 in restitution and ruled that the forfeited assets would be dealt with only in a separate forfeiture proceeding, where Bitfinex and people who say they owned some of the stolen bitcoin have filed competing claims. That proceeding was still pending in October 2026.
This case file is compiled from public records and established reporting. Status as of the last update, Nov 1, 2026.
Case files summarize court records, regulator actions and established reporting.
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