Bitcoin Hacker Behind Massive Crypto Theft Released From Prison by Trump
- Ilya Lichtenstein, who helped hack the Bitfinex crypto exchange and steal nearly 120,000 bitcoin, says he was released from prison early
- He had been sentenced in November 2024 to five years in prison for money laundering, but is now on home confinement after serving a significant time
- His wife, Heather Morgan, who also pleaded guilty, was also released early, and both publicly thanked Trump for the sentence reductions
Legit.ng journalist Victor Enengedi has over a decade's experience covering energy, MSMEs, technology, banking and the economy.
A Russian-American man who helped hack the crypto exchange Bitfinex and steal almost 120,000 bitcoin says he has been released from prison earlier than expected.
Ilya Lichtenstein, 38, announced the news on his official X account, saying his release was made possible by the First Step Act, a prison reform law signed by President Donald Trump.
Source: Getty Images
He wrote on X:
“Thanks to President Trump’s First Step Act, I have been released from prison early.”
Lichtenstein was sentenced in November 2024 to five years in prison. He had pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy charge and admitted his role in the Bitfinex hack. The stolen cryptocurrency is now worth billions of dollars.
Late Thursday night, Lichtenstein wrote that he was grateful for his early release and said he hopes to work in cybersecurity in a positive way. He also thanked his supporters and said he plans to prove his critics wrong.
A Trump administration official later confirmed that Lichtenstein has served a significant portion of his sentence and is now on home confinement, in accordance with federal prison rules. His lawyers did not comment right away.
Lichtenstein’s wife, Heather Morgan, shared his message on her own X account. She said having her husband home was the best New Year’s gift after four years apart. She also posted a selfie of the couple smiling together.
Morgan had also pleaded guilty to helping launder the stolen funds. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison and began serving her term in February.
In late October, she posted a video saying she had been released early as well and thanked Trump for shortening her sentence.
She said:
“It is very good to be back, and I want to give a shout-out to Papa Trump for making my 18-month sentence shorter.”
The First Step Act, signed into law in December 2018, was designed to reduce the federal prison population. It allows some inmates to earn early release or move to home confinement based on risk assessments and good behaviour. It is unclear whether Trump or the White House directly helped Lichtenstein or Morgan secure an early release.
Their announcements come as Trump, since returning to office, has issued several high-profile pardons and sentence reductions related to cybercrime and cryptocurrency.
Source: Getty Images
These include a pardon for Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road website, and for Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, who had pleaded guilty to allowing money laundering on his crypto platform.
Hackers stole $1.5bn from crypto exchange Bybit
In related news, Legit.ng earlier reported that popular cryptocurrency exchange, Bybit, was targeted in the world's biggest crypto hack in history.
Hackers stole about $1.5 billion as they gained access to Bybit’s cold wallet, a secure offline storage system, and drained the funds.
The founder of the Dubai-based company assured users that their money was secure and promised to repay anyone affected.
Source: Legit.ng
