The Department of Justice (DoJ) has seized a record $3.6 billion in Bitcoin that was stolen in the Bitfinex hack in 2016.
During the largest confiscation of cryptocurrency in history, a married couple, Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, were arrested. At the time of the hack, the stolen 119,754 BTC were valued at $70 million. At current exchange rates, the value of the stolen funds has risen to $4.5 billion.
Court documents describe in detail the entire process of money laundering, which was uncovered after the closure of the AlphaBay darknet market.
Out of 119,754 bitcoins, 95,000 BTC - about $3.6 billion - were not withdrawn and remained in the couple’s wallet. The agents were able to gain access to it and confiscate this amount.
The duo used various methods of laundering the asset:
- transaction automation program
- transfers to various accounts of exchanges and darknet markets
- converting BTC into anonymous currency
- crediting to the accounts of fictitious identities using fake ones documents.
Stolen coins were also passed through mixers and the darknet market Hydra, exchanged for gold, NFTs and gift cards.
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