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

The US government has been active on the blockchain, transferring approximately $606,000 worth of bitcoin to Coinbase Prime. The transferred 8 BTC are linked to Ilya Lichtenstein, the individual behind the 2016 Bitfinex hack. The coins have a court-mandated destination, with the government required to return them to Bitfinex rather than liquidating them independently. Bitfinex plans to use the returned funds to redeem all 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 saw Lichtenstein steal 119,756 BTC, worth roughly $72 million at the time, and involved years of sophisticated money laundering before investigators seized a portion of the stolen BTC in 2022. Lichtenstein was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison in 2024 and released in January 2026.