Bitcoin Laundering Scheme
Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, the husband and wife accused of laundering billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin connected to the 2016 Bitfinex hack, have reached a plea agreement with U.S. authorities. On Aug. 3, the two are expected to appear in the District of Columbia’s U.S. District Court for an arraignment and hearing as part of the agreement, and will have to forfeit any digital assets related to the case.
The hack of the crypto exchange Bitfinex in August 2016 resulted in the theft of 119,754 Bitcoin (BTC), and Lichtenstein and Morgan allegedly laundered more than 94,643 BTC of the funds “in a series of small, complex transactions across multiple accounts and platforms”. The two were arrested in New York in February 2022.
The plea agreement is a significant development in the case, as it involves one of the largest crypto-related money laundering schemes to date. The scheme involved the use of various web 3.0 crypto tokens, such as Agix Crypto, Aave Crypto, Alchemy Crypto, and Alchemy Pay Crypto, as well as the top 5 web 3.0 crypto tokens. This case serves as a reminder of the importance of due diligence when investing in crypto assets.
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