New Delhi(CoinChapter.com): In a significant development related to the 2016 Bitfinex hack, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has returned $312,219.71 in cash and 6.917 Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. The funds were seized in collaboration with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Recovery efforts to retrieve the remaining stolen assets are still in progress.
“This is part of Bitfinex’s ongoing efforts, working with law enforcement and other investigation agencies, to recover assets stolen from the exchange in August 2016. The U.S. government continues to make progress in prosecuting individuals involved in the Bitfinex security breach and in seizing funds associated with the theft.” A Bitfinex staff member stated.
Bitfinex will distribute the returned assets on a pro-rated basis to the victims of the 2016 Bitfinex hack. Following the security breach, Bitfinex issued Recovery Rights Tokens (RRT) with a par value of $1 each. Currently, there are 30 million RRTs in circulation. Bitfinex will use the recovered assets to redeem the RRTs. Any remaining funds will be allocated to token holders of Unus Sed Leo (Leo), Bitfinex’s native token.
The 2016 security breach inflicted a substantial loss on Bitfinex, resulting in the theft of 119,576 Bitcoins from customers. At the time, these Bitcoins were worth around $70 million, but today, they hold a value of approximately $3.7 billion. In a significant development in February 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice apprehended Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan, on charges of conspiring to launder cryptocurrencies connected to the hack. During the subsequent investigation, special agents managed to seize over 94,000 of the stolen Bitcoins from the couple. They obtained a search warrant that allowed access to their private key files.
Efforts to recover the remaining stolen funds are still underway, as authorities continue their pursuit of justice in the Bitfinex case.
