US EditionIlya Lichtenstein Credits Trump’s First Step Act for Early Release in Bitfinex Hack Case
Lichtenstein credits the bipartisan First Step Act for early release after serving significant time for laundering billions in stolen bitcoin from the 2016 Bitfinex hack.
- On Thursday, Ilya Lichtenstein wrote `Thanks to President Trump's First Step Act, I have been released from prison early`, with a White House official confirming he is on home confinement.
- Passed in 2018, the First Step Act was signed by President Donald Trump in December and allows non-violent offenders to earn time credits for home confinement through a risk-and-needs assessment system.
- Ilya Lichtenstein pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in November 2024 after converting about 25,000 BTC, most of which the U.S. government recovered.
- Ilya Lichtenstein has not been pardoned, while President Donald Trump issued crypto pardons including Ross Ulbricht and Changpeng Zhao; Heather Morgan, rapper 'Razzlekhan', posted a selfie saying, `Why hello Razzlers, I have missed you`.
- Prosecutors moved to return recovered bitcoin to Bitfinex in January 2025 after authorities recovered about 94,000 BTC, and the Justice Department placed the laundered crypto's value at approximately $4.5 billion.
13 Articles
13 Articles
Bitfinex hacker Ilya Lichtenstein, who stole $10.8 billion worth of Bitcoin, walks free, credits Trump for early release - Tech Startups
One of the most notorious figures in crypto crime has been released from prison years early. Ilya Lichtenstein, the Russian-U.S. national who hacked crypto exchange Bitfinex and helped steal nearly 120,000 bitcoin, said he was released early under federal prison […] The post Bitfinex hacker Ilya Lichtenstein, who stole $10.8 billion worth of Bitcoin, walks free, credits Trump for early release first appeared on Tech Startups.
Trump gets praise from Russian fraudster after early release from prison
Russian-U.S. national Ilya Lichtenstein, who hacked a crypto exchange and stole nearly 120,000 bitcoin, claims he has been freed after only a year into his five-year sentence. Lichtenstein posted on X late Thursday night, saying, “Thanks to President Trump’s First Step Act, I have been released from prison early.”The admitted fraudster pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy charge and admitted to hacking crypto assets now valued in the …
New York, Jan. 2 (EFE).- A hacker who was convicted of a billion dollar bitcoin robbery on Bitfinex platform and for laundering that money thanked US President Donald Trump on Friday for his early release from prison. Ilya Lichtenstein was sentenced at the end of 2024 to five years for the theft of 120,000 bitcoins from Bitfinex in 2016, but had been in pretrial detention since he was charged in 2022, at which point his loot was valued at about …
Billion-dollar Bitcoin hacker Ilya Lichtenstein thanks Trump for early prison release
Just over a year after being sentenced to five years in prison for the theft of billions of dollars in Bitcoin, hacker Ilya Lichtenstein is free. Lichtenstein announced his release in a post on X, specifically crediting Trump: "Thanks to President Trump's First Step Act, I have been released from prison early. I remain committed to making a positive impact in cybersecurity as soon as I can." Thanks to President Trump's First Step Act, I have be…
Ilya Lichtenstein credits Trump’s First Step Act for early release in Bitfinex hack case
The hacker, who pleaded guilty to stealing and laundering nearly 120,000 bitcoin from Bitfinex, said sentence-reduction provisions, not a pardon, led to his release after serving about 14 months.
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