A hacker who pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder billions of dollars worth of bitcoin stolen in the 2016 Bitfinex hack has been released from prison, a little more than one year after being sentenced to a five-year stint.
Ilya Lichtenstein posted on X that his early release came as a result of a bipartisan 2018 law that President Donald Trump signed in his first term that was meant to reduce the federal inmate population.
“Thanks to President Trump’s First Step Act, I have been released from prison early,” he wrote last week. “I remain committed to making a positive impact in cybersecurity as soon as I can.”
The Bitfinext hack eventually led to what the Justice Department said was, at the time of the arrest of Lichtenstein in 2022, the then-biggest federal recovery and seizure of stolen bitcoin, worth $3.6 billion. Authorities accused Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan — a rapper on the side who went by the name Razzlekhan — of laundering $4.5 billion from the Bitfinex hack.
It’s a quick reversal from Lichtenstein’s sentence issued in November 2024. At the time of the arrest of the Manhattan couple, law enforcement touted its pursuit of crypto criminals.
“Today’s arrests, and the department’s largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals,” said then-Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “In a futile effort to maintain digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions.”
Lichtenstein on X hailed himself as a “hacker on the road to redemption,” adding, “To the supporters, thank you for everything. To the haters, I look forward to proving you wrong.”
Morgan hailed his release, too.
The Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons did not respond to a request for comment. The FBI declined to comment. A U.S. official told CNBC that Lichtenstein “has served significant time on his sentence and is currently on home confinement consistent with statute and Bureau of Prisons policies.”
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Ilya Lichtenstein was supposed to serve five years after being sentenced in late 2024.
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