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

The US government has moved approximately $606,000 worth of bitcoin to Coinbase Prime, with on-chain data suggesting the transferred 8 BTC are tied to Ilya Lichtenstein, the individual behind the 2016 Bitfinex hack. The transferred coins are subject to a court-mandated destination, requiring the government to return them to Bitfinex rather than liquidating them. Bitfinex plans to use the returned funds to fully redeem outstanding Recovery Right Tokens and allocate at least 80% of the remaining net proceeds to repurchase and burn its UNUS SED LEO token. The 2016 hack involved Lichtenstein hacking into Bitfinex, authorizing over 2,000 transactions, and transferring 119,756 BTC to a wallet under his control, valued at roughly $72 million at the time. The stolen coins were laundered through various means before a portion was seized by investigators in 2022. 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, ether at roughly $146 million, and other cryptocurrencies.