Hacker sentenced to 5 years in prison for bitcoin heist
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Bitcoin cryptocurrency. Photo: VCG via Getty Images
Bitcoin hacker Ilya Lichtenstein was sentenced on Thursday for his role in a money laundering conspiracy related to the theft of $3.6 billion worth of cryptocurrency from virtual currency exchange Bitfinex, the Department of Justice announced.
The big picture: Lichtenstein, who last year along with his wife, Heather Morgan, pleaded guilty in New York to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering over the 2016 theft of nearly 120,000 bitcoin from Bitfinex, received a five-year prison sentence.
Driving the news: Using "advanced hacking tools and techniques," the DOJ said in a statement that Lichtenstein broke into the network and "fraudulently authorized more than 2,000 transactions transferring 119,754 bitcoin from Bitfinex to a cryptocurrency wallet" in his control.
- "Lichtenstein then took steps to cover his tracks by deleting from Bitfinex's network access credentials and other log files that could have revealed his conduct to law enforcement" before enlisting the help of Morgan "in laundering the stolen funds," per the statement.
- The couple "employed numerous sophisticated laundering techniques," the DOJ said.
- These included "using fictitious identities to set up online accounts," "depositing the stolen funds into accounts at a variety of darknet markets and cryptocurrency exchanges and then withdrawing the funds" and "exchanging a portion of the stolen funds into gold coins."
What's next: Morgan is due to be sentenced on Monday.
- Lichtenstein, 35, has been ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his imprisonment.
