US Government Transfers $606,000 in Bitcoin Tied 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 linked to Ilya Lichtenstein, the individual behind the decade-old Bitfinex hack. The transferred coins are subject to a court-mandated destination, requiring the government to return them to Bitfinex rather than liquidating them. The returned funds will be used to redeem all outstanding Recovery Right Tokens and devote at least 80% of the remaining net proceeds to repurchasing and burning the UNUS SED LEO token. The 2016 hack involved Lichtenstein fraudulently authorizing over 2,000 transactions, resulting in the transfer of 119,756 BTC to a wallet under his control, valued at roughly $72 million at the time. Following years of money laundering, investigators seized a portion of the stolen BTC in 2022, and Lichtenstein was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison in 2024. The US government holds bitcoin valued at approximately $24.54 billion, as well as other cryptocurrencies, with the seized BTC initially intended to form part of a national strategic bitcoin reserve.