PANews reported on December 19, according to CoinDesk, that the hacker involved in the Bitfinex theft case made his first public statement since his arrest. Ilya Lichtenstein reiterated that he alone stole 120,000 bitcoins, denying speculation in the Netflix documentary that "his father was involved in the conspiracy and may belong to a Russian espionage agency." This marks his first public statement since his arrest in 2022.
Lichtenstein is atoning for his crimes in court and has stated that he plans to work in cybersecurity after serving his sentence. In a video on Tuesday, Lichtenstein reaffirmed this commitment: "After I get out... I plan to dedicate myself to the cybersecurity industry; I know the cyber threats we face and I know how to stop them."
The compensation hearing is scheduled for February next year to determine whether these assets should be allocated to Bitfinex or customers affected by the hack. Lawyer Samson Enzer from Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP stated, "With significant assistance from Lichtenstein, the government has recovered almost all assets stolen during the 2016 Bitfinex hack. A total of approximately 114,601 bitcoins have been recovered (96% of the approximately 119,754 bitcoins stolen in the hack), along with 29 additional assets of considerable value."
