Bitfinex hacker sentenced to 5 years in prison for extracting nearly 120k BTC

Ilya “Dutchman” Lichtenstein was sentenced to five years in prison by a Washington federal judge for stealing billions worth of Bitcoin from crypto exchange Bitfinex.

According to the Bloomberg report, Lichtenstein received his sentence from a Washington federal court on November 14. His sentence aligns with what prosecutors wanted for the Bitfinex hacker, who sought a “severer” sentence than his wife for the money laundering scheme. , recommended an 18-month prison sentence for social media rapper Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan.

According to sentencing rules, the hacker previously faced a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. However, his sentence was reduced because he served as a key government witness in a number of cybercrime-related cases and provided significant assistance to investigators.

One of the cases in which Lichtenstein testified was a February 2024 money laundering case involving a mixing service called Bitcoin Fog.

Lichtenstein, along with her rapper husband, attacked the crypto exchange Bitfinex and removed approximately 119,754 Bitcoin (BTC). At the time of the theft, the BTC treasury was worth $71 million. However, with the ongoing Bitcoin rally, the price of the cryptocurrency rose as high as $93,000 last week shortly after the release of the US Consumer Price Index report.

Based on the current market price, the amount of BTC mined by Lichtenstein is currently worth more than $10.5 billion. Bitcoin is currently trading at $88,158.

Lichtenstein, described as a “highly skilled computer expert”, infiltrated the Bitfinex network in 2016. It then authorized more than 2,000 Bitcoin transactions in a cryptocurrency wallet owned by the hacker. In addition to the Bitfinex hack, Lichtenstein also has a history of compromising accounts at other major crypto platforms, including Coinbase and Kraken.

Morgan claimed that her husband learned about the Bitfinex robbery in 2020. He then helped her hide the stolen Bitcoin using a variety of methods, including purchasing NFTs, gold, and Walmart gift cards.

Additionally, prosecutors say the couple used sophisticated money laundering methods to make their funds untraceable. They are known to withdraw and deposit funds from unregulated crypto exchanges and darknet markets.

Morgan is scheduled to be sentenced on November 18. Like her husband, Morgan’s sentence could be commuted for her cooperation, but she also faces up to five years behind bars for conspiracy to defraud the United States