US prosecutors have filed a request with the court to authorize the return of nearly 80% of the 119,754 BTC stolen during the 2016 hack to the Bitfinex exchange.
If approved, the authorities will transfer 94,643 BTC to the platform, seized from the wallet of hacker Ilya Lichtenstein. Additionally, Bitfinex will receive corresponding amounts in Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Satoshi Vision, and Bitcoin Gold, which were created as a result of hard forks.
In November 2024, a US court sentenced Lichtenstein to five years in prison for laundering the funds stolen from the exchange, while his wife, Heather Morgan, received an 18-month sentence for assisting in the criminal activities. Both admitted their guilt and agreed to return the stolen assets.
As for the remaining ~25,000 BTC, prosecutors stated that additional forfeiture procedures would be required. These funds were laundered using various methods, including unregulated exchanges, darknet marketplaces, mixers, and other services, making them ineligible to be classified as “specific property” stolen from Bitfinex during the hack.
In October 2024, authorities officially recognized Bitfinex as the sole victim in the incident.
Earlier, in December, Lichtenstein released a video message from prison claiming he had planned and executed the Bitfinex hack entirely on his own.
