According to TechFlow, on October 16, Bloomberg reported that U.S. prosecutors recommended to the judge that Ilya Lichtenstein, the mastermind of the 2016 Bitfinex exchange hack, be sentenced to five years in prison. The case involved the theft of up to $6 billion in cryptocurrency and is considered one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in history.

Lichtenstein, who pleaded guilty last year to participating in a money laundering conspiracy related to the Bitfinex exchange hack, should receive a longer sentence than his wife and accomplice, Heather Morgan, prosecutors said in court documents filed on Tuesday. Previously, prosecutors had recommended an 18-month prison sentence for Morgan, a rapper who calls himself "Wall Street Alligator."

Prosecutors said Lichtenstein fits the profile of a young cybercriminal who often sees cybercrime as normal and underestimates its impact on victims. "A tough sentence in this case will help break this vicious cycle," prosecutors said in a filing with a federal judge in Washington.