Bitfinex Hack
Summary
On August 2, 2016, the Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex was breached by Ilya Lichtenstein, who fraudulently authorized more than 2,000 transactions to steal 119,756 BTC valued at approximately $72 million at the time. The exchange socialized losses across all customers and issued BFX recovery tokens, redeeming them fully by April 2017. In February 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice arrested Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan, seizing over $3.6 billion in Bitcoin in what was then the largest financial seizure in DOJ history; both pleaded guilty in August 2023 and were sentenced in November 2024.
Connected Entities
1 entitiesTimeline(10 events)
2016-08-02
Ilya Lichtenstein hacks Bitfinex, executing over 2,000 unauthorized transactions and stealing 119,756 BTC worth approximately $72 million.
2016 Bitfinex Hack - Wikipedia2016-08-03
Bitfinex publicly discloses the breach; bitcoin's price falls approximately 20%. Bitfinex halts all trading and withdrawals.
The Bitfinex Bitcoin Hack: What We Know (And Don't Know) - CoinDesk2016-08-06
Bitfinex announces the socialized loss mechanism, reducing all customer account balances by 36.067% and issuing BFX tokens as compensation.
2016 Bitfinex Hack - Wikipedia2017-01-01
Lichtenstein and Morgan move a large portion of stolen funds to the darknet market AlphaBay, using it as a bitcoin mixer.
Bitfinex Hack Money Launderers Plead Guilty - Chainalysis2017-04-03
Bitfinex announces full redemption of all outstanding BFX tokens at $1.00 face value, eliminating direct customer liabilities from the hack.
Bitfinex Makes Good on Debt, 100% of BFX Tokens Redeemed - Bitcoin.com News2022-02-08
DOJ arrests Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan in New York City on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Investigators seize more than 94,000 BTC valued at approximately $3.6 billion — the largest financial seizure in DOJ history at the time.
Feds Seize $3.6 Billion in Bitcoin Stolen from Bitfinex Hack - CNBC2023-08-03
Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan both plead guilty to money laundering conspiracy in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Lichtenstein admits publicly for the first time to executing the original 2016 hack.
Husband and Wife Plead Guilty to Money Laundering Conspiracy - DOJ2024-11-14
Ilya Lichtenstein is sentenced to 60 months (five years) in federal prison and three years of supervised release.
Bitfinex Hacker Sentenced in Money Laundering Conspiracy - DOJ2024-11-18
Heather Morgan is sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for her role in the laundering operation.
Bitfinex Hack Launderer Heather 'Razzlekhan' Morgan Sentenced to 18 Months - CoinDesk2026-01-02
Ilya Lichtenstein is released from federal prison after approximately 14 months, qualifying for early release under the First Step Act due to the non-violent classification of his offense.
Bitcoin Hacker Ilya Lichtenstein Thanks Trump for Early Prison Release - CNBCDecision Log
- hash: 7MNDPzGZmZmbfLCWZ4K3862indHEb8yCPfpEJgUDeU8R
- hash: 3B4T5p5UKB2LCxJCCWX1cFZGuoXCzsohhy9LP15ybLYZ
- hash: AVxzpX8mavGu59F5oPmmJNBxVZsgShL1GuuPLXGGtZtE
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-code-investigator
generated: 5/8/2026, 2:31:08 AM
last updated: 5/30/2026, 1:03:56 PM
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