A hacker has been sentenced to five years in a US prison for laundering the proceeds of one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts ever.

Ilya Lichtenstein pleaded guilty last year in the case of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange being hacked in 2016 and the theft of almost 120,000 Bitcoins.

He laundered the stolen cryptocurrency with the help of his wife, Heather Morgan, who used the pseudonym Razzlekhan to promote her hip hop music.

At the time of the theft, Bitcoin was worth around $70 million (£55.3 million), but by the time they were arrested its value had risen to over $4.5 billion. At today’s prices they would be worth more than twice that.

At the time, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the $3.6 billion in assets seized in the case was the largest financial seizure in the Justice Department’s history.

“It’s important to send the message that you cannot commit these crimes with impunity and that there will be consequences,” district judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said.

Lichtenstein, who has been in prison since his arrest in February 2022, expressed regret for his actions.

He also said he hopes to use his skills in fighting cybercrime after he serves his sentence.

Morgan also pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He will be sentenced on November 18.

According to court documents, Lichtenstein used advanced hacking tools and techniques to hack Bitfinex.

After the attack, he asked Morgan for help in laundering the stolen funds.

“They used many sophisticated laundering techniques”, Ministry of Justice said in a statement.

The methods included using fictitious identities, converting funds into different cryptocurrencies, and purchasing gold.

Lichtenstein, who was born in Russia and raised in the United States, would later meet couriers during family trips and carry the laundered money back home, prosecutors said.

Morgan’s Razzlekhan character went viral on social media when the case arose.

Even as they tried to cover up the hacking, the couple released dozens of profanity-filled music videos and rap songs shot in various locations in New York.

In the lyrics, he described himself as a “bad money maker” and “the alligator of Wall Street”.

In articles published in Forbes magazine, Morgan also claimed to be a successful technology businesswoman, describing herself as an “economist, serial entrepreneur, software investor and rapper.”