The U.S. government moved approximately $606,000 in Bitcoin associated with the Bitfinex hack to Coinbase Prime on Thursday. This transfer follows previous movements in March and April, also linked to cryptocurrency-related cases.
Federal wallets currently hold an estimated 328,361 BTC, valued at roughly $24 billion.
The 2016 Bitfinex hack saw hacker Ilya Lichtenstein steal over 119,000 Bitcoin, worth about $72 million at the time. Today, that amount would be valued at approximately $8.9 billion.
Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan, attempted to launder these stolen funds for over five years. In February 2022, authorities seized about 94,636 BTC after discovering private keys linked to the stolen cryptocurrency.
Lichtenstein was sentenced to five years in prison, and Morgan received 18 months. Federal proceedings are underway to return the seized assets to Bitfinex, which plans to use them to redeem outstanding tokens and repurchase others.