Bitfinex, one of the world’s most well-known cryptocurrency exchanges, was exposed to a major hack attack in 2016, as a result of which 119,754 Bitcoins (today’s value of 4.5 billion dollars) were stolen. Although action has been taken regarding the issue, no concrete development has been experienced so far. But now, there has been a very important development regarding this event.
The US Department of Justice managed to seize 94 thousand of the stolen Bitcoins as a result of the investigation it initiated. Not content with that, the ministry arrested a couple named Illya Lichtenstein, 34, and Heather Morgan, 31. While it is thought that these two are behind the attack, the sentence requested for the suspects is 25 years.
The largest operation of the US Department of Justice
In the statements made on the subject, it was stated that the total value of the seized Bitcoins was $ 3.6 billion, and an operation of this magnitude was a first for the US Department of Justice. However, this was not a completely successful operation. Because more than 25 thousand Bitcoins are lost. That money has been spent on necessities so far. So how did 34-year-old llya Lichtenstein and 31-year-old Heather Morgan carry out this attack?
According to the statement made by the US Department of Justice, the real name behind the attack was Ilya Lichtenstein. Although it is not an official crime at the moment, it is thought that Lichtenstein first infiltrated Bitfinex systems and then stole Bitcoins in more than 2000 transactions. The fact that the Bitcoins were sent to a digital wallet belonging to Lichtenstein supports these claims. However, Lichtenstein’s ingenuity is not that much. The hacker started converting the stolen Bitcoins into various cryptocurrencies such as Monero. Lichtenstein, who took the money he needed and kept the rest in the same digital wallet, caught these Bitcoins 6 years after the attack…
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