The United States government has conducted transfers totaling $922 million worth of Bitcoin from two cryptocurrency wallets that held funds seized from Bitfinex in 2016.
These transfers coincided with Bitcoin’s surge above $60,000 for the first time in over two years on Feb. 28. Bitcoin experienced a 5.52% increase in the 24 hours leading up to 9:45 pm UTC, trading at $62,507, marking a 20% increase for the week.
The initial transfer, involving only 1 Bitcoin ($60,200 at the time), occurred at 3:39 pm UTC on Feb. 28. Subsequently, the government-labeled wallet executed additional transactions: 2,817 Bitcoin ($172.74 million), 0.01 Bitcoin ($613.35), and 12,267 Bitcoin ($748.46 million), according to Arkham Intelligence data.
The U.S. government confiscated these funds in 2016 following the Bitfinex hack, which involved approximately 119,754 BTC, valued at over $7.4 billion at the current price.
The transfers followed revelations from Ilya Lichtenstein, who detailed his involvement in the theft and laundering of over $4.5 billion worth of Bitcoin from Bitfinex. Lichtenstein disclosed his access to Bitfinex’s systems and hacking of individual accounts at exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken.
Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan, were arrested in February 2022, accused of laundering $4.5 billion in hacked Bitcoin. The couple pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy related to the Bitfinex hack in August 2023. The U.S. government seized $3.6 billion in Bitcoin, making it the largest financial seizure in history, with an additional $475 million seized later.
Amazon is reportedly producing a movie inspired by a 2022 New York Times article portraying Lichtenstein and Morgan as “Bitcoin’s Bonnie and Clyde,” reflecting the sensational nature of their story.
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