Five years in prison for American hacker who stole 120,000 bitcoins

Together with his wife Heather Morgan, he managed to steal almost 120,000 bitcoins in 2016. They then tried to hide the proceeds. This happened, among other things, through money laundering and opening bank accounts under false identities.

Lichtenstein is said to have used various hacking techniques to gain access to the Bitfinex trading platform. The hack captured 119,754 bitcoins, which were transferred to his own crypto wallet. At the time, the crypto coins had a value of approximately 71 million dollars, equivalent to approximately 67 million euros. With the current bitcoin price, which has been on the rise since last week, its value would be in the many billions of dollars.

Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan were arrested in 2022 on suspicion of conspiracy to launder the stolen bitcoins. The American Justice Department confiscated more than 94,000 of the stolen crypto coins. According to prosecutors, Lichtenstein and Morgan purchased gold and Walmart gift cards, among other things, with the proceeds they received from the sale of the remaining bitcoins.

The two pleaded guilty last year. According to the guidelines, the 37-year-old American risked a prison sentence of up to twenty years. However, prosecutors only asked for five years, after they said Lichtenstein had cooperated well with the investigations. He ultimately received that punishment. Morgan will hear her sentence next week. A prison sentence of eighteen months has been demanded against her.