The US Department of Justice announced that Ilya Lichtenstein, who orchestrated the theft of more than 119,000 Bitcoins from the crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016, was sentenced to 60 months in prison for money laundering. in question Wednesday.

The decision marks an important conclusion regarding one of the largest cyber thefts in history and approximately 10 billion dollars in stolen assets.

This penalty follows a seven-year investigation involving multiple U.S. agencies, including the IRS-Criminal Investigations unit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations, as well as blockchain forensics firm TRM Labs.

Lichtenstein’s actions were “in collaboration with his wife Heather”razzlehan“Morgan was involved in the laundering of Bitcoin, which was valued at approximately $4.5 billion at the time of recovery. Morgan is scheduled to be sentenced on November 18.

After pleading guilty to money laundering charges in August 2023, Lichtenstein admitted to withdrawing Bitcoin, then worth about $71 million, in 2016 by exploiting a vulnerability in Bitfinex’s security infrastructure.

According to the DOJ, Lichtenstein used advanced hacking techniques to breach Bitfinex’s security, granting himself unauthorized access to Bitfinex’s network. He initiated more than 2,000 transactions to transfer 119,754 Bitcoins to his personal wallet.

Lichtenstein then transferred the funds to thousands of people. complex operations Darknet markets and exchanges use stealth tools such as coin mixers and privacy-focused cryptocurrencies to cover their tracks.

Despite efforts to conceal their tracks, blockchain intelligence tools allowed authorities to track down assets and conduct one of the largest crypto seizures in U.S. history.

Law enforcement recovered nearly 94,000 BTC from a single wallet in 2022; This figure is now worth billions of dollars and marked a critical turning point in the investigation.

Subsequent searches turned up additional assets, including physical gold, digital coins, and the US dollar.

“This case shows how far cryptocurrency research has come, especially as blockchain technology becomes more integrated in the enforcement of financial crimes,” TRM Labs said in a statement Thursday. he said. “As crypto crimes continue to evolve, the tools and techniques used by law enforcement must also evolve, and cases like Bitfinex highlight the need for continued advances in crypto tracking.”