‘DOJ Seizes $3.6 Billion in Bitcoin Stolen in 2016 Bitfinex Hack,’ Bloomberg Reported

The Justice Department stated Tuesday morning that it has seized $3.6 billion in allegedly stolen cryptocurrencies related to the Bitfinex hack in 2016. Authorities arrested a New York couple as part of the operation on allegations of attempting to launder digital goods.

“Today’s arrests, and the Department’s largest financial seizure ever, show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. “In a futile effort to maintain digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions.”

Lya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, were detained. The duo is set to appear in federal court later in the day for their initial appearances.

Authorities accuse the couple of attempting to launder the earnings of 119,754 Bitcoin stolen from Bitfinex’s platform after a hacker breached the platform’s infrastructure and launched over 2,000 illegal transactions. Prosecutors claim the transfers moved stolen Bitcoin to Lichtenstein’s digital wallet.

“Today, federal law enforcement demonstrates once again that we can follow money through the blockchain, and that we will not allow cryptocurrency to be a safe haven for money laundering or a zone of lawlessness within our financial system,” Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite Jr. said in a statement.

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