Ilya Lichtenstein, who pleaded guilty to the 2016 Bitfinex hack and was sentenced to five years in prison, made his first public statement since his 2022 arrest. In a recent video on X, he admitted to being the hacker, and denied his father’s or any spy agency’s involvement.
He stated that he had worked to return the stolen bitcoin and would continue to do so. Lichtenstein also expressed regret for his actions and for involving his wife, Heather Morgan, who pled guilty to money laundering and conspiracy charges. Morgan was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Lichtenstein plans to work in cybersecurity after his release. Most of the stolen bitcoin has been recovered, according to his lawyer.
In a five minute video posted on X, Lichtenstein restated that he was the hacker and he acted alone while denying the speculations in a Netflix documentary that his father or any agency might be involved in the act.
“My dad is no hacker, he doesn’t even know how to use Instagram,” stated Lichtenstein, who was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering, including the time he was detained after the arrest while the case was pending.
Lichenstein also offered sincere apologies to Bitfinex for ‘all the stress that he caused them’ which he said in the video, recorded from prison during a remote visit with his wife.
Lichtenstein admitted in the video that he knew his actions were wrong but did them anyway, expressing regret and self-hatred. He also gave an update on working to return the stolen funds to Bitfinex.
Lichtenstein stated that he has been working for the past three years to return all the stolen assets as part of his plea agreement and will continue doing so. A restitution hearing is scheduled for February to decide whether the recovered funds will go to Bitfinex or its affected customers.
Bitfinex hacker’s wife, Heather Morgan, aka “Razzlekhan,” pleaded guilty as well. Charges were of money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Prosecutors said Morgan learned about Bitfinex hack years later and that Lichtenstein asked her to help launder these Bitcoins.
Lichtenstein stated in the video that his wife, Heather Morgan, is also a victim of his poor decisions. Last month, Morgan was sentenced to 18 months in prison for her supporting role in Lichtenstein’s crimes.
Best known for her goofy rap videos, Morgan recently began selling custom videos for $125 a pop on Cameo, a sort of non-pornographic version of Onlyfans. Her prison sentence could begin as soon as next month.
The Netflix documentary on the case said that a large portion of the stolen money was still unaccounted for. However, Lichtenstein disagreed with the claim, stating that all money had been accounted for.
“It’s nice to begin to have the public record surrounding our case set straight,” Morgan noted, referring to the video her husband released. “You would think that would have happened after our sentencing memos got filed, but that really hasn’t been the case. There are so many myths that I look forward to debunking when we tell the real story.”
Lichtenstein revealed that after he serves his time, he plans to pursue a career fighting cybercrime. Previously, Liechtenstein expressed remorse for “wasting my talents on crime instead of a positive contribution to society.” He said he hopes that he can apply his expertise to fight cybercrime when he gets out of prison.
“When I am released from prison … I plan to dedicate myself to working in the cybersecurity industry,” Lichtenstein said. “I know the cyber threats that we face and I know how to stop them.”
Notably, the bitcoin stolen in the 2016 hack was worth $70 million at the time and around $12 billion today. the Netflix documentary leaves viewers with the impression that a substantial portion of the stolen funds remain missing, but according to Lichtenstein’s lawyer, this is not the case.
“With significant help from Mr. Lichtenstein, the government has recovered nearly all of the assets stolen during the 2016 Bitfinex hack,” the lawyer, Samson Enzer of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP, told CoinDesk. “In total, approximately 114,601 BTC (representing 96% of the approximately 119,754 BTC taken in the hack) were recovered, as well as 29 additional assets with substantial value.”
