Bitfinex recovers nearly $12B in Bitcoin stolen in 2016 hack
According to a court ruling, U.S. authorities will return 119,756 bitcoins stolen in 2016 by Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan to the crypto exchange Bitfinex.
The decision to return the stolen bitcoins to the exchange is part of Bitfinex's ongoing efforts to independently compensate its clients for losses.
After the August 2016 hack, Bitfinex "socialized" the losses by reducing all client accounts by approximately 36% and issued a new token, BFX, to cover the damages.
These tokens could be sold at market price, redeemed at a fixed price of $1 by Bitfinex, or exchanged at the same rate for shares in the parent company iFinex.
A multistep compensation scheme
As a result of these actions, Bitfinex managed to redeem all BFX tokens within eight months, issuing another token—RRT (Recovery Right Tokens)—for new shareholders from among affected clients.
Last October, U.S. authorities confirmed that Bitfinex could legally claim the bitcoins seized from Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan and initiated a formal process to identify those who had not yet been compensated by Bitfinex.
The current court decision underscores that the crypto exchange's compensation measures were justified, as the bitcoins, valued at $71 million in 2016, have now grown to $11,8 billion.
Ilya Lichtenstein, the mastermind behind the 2016 Bitfinex hack that resulted in the theft of 120,000 Bitcoin, has broken his silence since his arrest in 2022.
In a public statement, Lichtenstein expressed remorse, claimed sole responsibility for the crime, and outlined plans to rebuild his life after serving his prison sentence.
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