US Government Transfers $606,000 in Bitcoin Linked to 2016 Bitfinex Hack to Coinbase

The US government has initiated a transfer of approximately $606,000 worth of bitcoin to Coinbase Prime, with on-chain data indicating the 8 BTC are connected to Ilya Lichtenstein, the individual responsible for the decade-old Bitfinex hack. According to data tracked by Arkham, these coins are not ordinary, as they have a court-mandated destination. In early 2025, federal proceedings confirmed the in-kind restitution of the seized assets to Bitfinex, requiring the government to return the coins rather than liquidating them independently. The transferred bitcoin is linked to the 2016 hack, in which Lichtenstein stole 119,756 BTC, valued at roughly $72 million at the time. Following years of sophisticated money laundering, investigators seized a portion of the stolen BTC in 2022, valued at $3.6 billion. Lichtenstein was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison in 2024 and released in January 2026. The US government holds bitcoin valued at approximately $24.54 billion, as well as other cryptocurrencies, with plans to utilize the returned funds to redeem Recovery Right Tokens and repurchase its UNUS SED LEO token.