According to Deep Tide TechFlow news on November 8, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the establishment of a dedicated website to collect statements from affected users in the 2016 Bitfinex exchange theft incident. Although the DOJ stated that there are no victims in this case under the Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA), it still hopes to ensure that anyone potentially affected by the criminal actions of Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan can have a voice.
In August 2016, Lichtenstein invaded the Bitfinex exchange, stealing approximately 120,000 bitcoins (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). At that time, these assets were worth about 72 million dollars, while today the value of just the Bitcoin portion has reached approximately 9.2 billion dollars.
On August 3, 2023, Lichtenstein admitted to a money laundering conspiracy charge, with the Justice Department recommending a sentence of over 5 years; his sentence will be announced on November 14, 2024. Morgan admitted to a money laundering conspiracy charge and a conspiracy to defraud the United States charge, with sentencing scheduled for November 15.
