US government: Bitcoin confiscated in 2016 hack should be returned to Bitfinex

U.S. government lawyers have filed a legal complaint requesting that Bitcoin (BTC) seized in the 2016 Bitfinex hack be returned to the cryptocurrency exchange.
The court filing on the 14th (local time) included approximately 94,643 BTC, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) generated through the hard fork, Bitcoin Satoshi
The document states that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin Vision (BSV) and Bitcoin Gold (BTG) must be returned to exchanges in equivalent form.
Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan
Morgan, aka Razzlekhan, was arrested in 2022 and convicted in connection with the 2016 Bitfinex hack.
119,754 BTC was stolen in the hack, and the stolen bitcoins were worth only $72 million at the time, but are now worth more than $11.8 billion.
Controversy has raged over how Bitfinex will compensate hack victims. Bitfinex compensation plan and court ruling
A few days after the August 2016 hack, Bitfinex halted withdrawals and implemented a recovery plan.
As part of this recovery plan, Bitfinex socialized its financial losses, announcing that 36% of all accounts were lost.
Users will then be issued BFX tokens (BFX), which can be exchanged for shares in iFinex, the parent company of Bitfinex.
Each BFX token will be issued to cover losses at the exchange rate at the time of the hack, and all BFX tokens issued by the exchange will be redeemable for 8 months after the start of the recovery program.
The entire amount was exchanged by users within 24 hours, which satisfied the victim compensation conditions demanded by the government. According to documents filed in court by the U.S. government in October 2024, Bitfinex
He said he may be the sole recipient of compensation in the case thanks to a recovery plan that provides compensation to victims. But the government said the 2016 hack reduced the value of the accounts by $1.
The government also acknowledged that there may be thousands of victims whose accounts were reduced. The government has offered victims of the hack an opportunity to submit statements of intent by November 13, 2024.
A website has also been set up to communicate legal notices to potential victim claimants, including Bitfinex account holders.
We provide relevant information to victims.