100 Billion Became 10 Trillion... Controversy Over 5-Year Sentence for Man Who Stole 120,000 Bitcoins

Hacking Cryptocurrency Exchange in 2016 to Steal Bitcoin
Couple Laundered About 21% of Stolen Bitcoin

An American man who stole 120,000 Bitcoins was sentenced to five years in prison.

On the 16th (Korean time), foreign media including the AP reported that a U.S. court sentenced Ilya Lichtenstein to five years in prison on the 14th for leading the largest cryptocurrency theft in history. Lichtenstein hacked Bitfinex, a cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in Hong Kong, in August 2016 and stole approximately 120,000 Bitcoins. According to media reports, the 120,000 Bitcoins were worth $71 million (about 99.1 billion KRW) at the time of the hack, but are now estimated to be worth $7.6 billion (10.61 trillion KRW) at current market value.

A man who stole 120,000 Bitcoins was sentenced to five years in prison. On the 16th (Korean time), foreign media including AP News reported that a U.S. court sentenced Ilya Lichtenstein to five years in prison on the 14th for leading the largest cryptocurrency theft in history. Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News.

Lichtenstein was living in San Francisco, USA, at the time of the incident and laundered the stolen Bitcoins with the help of his wife, Heather Rhiannon Morgan. The couple was arrested in New York in February 2022. In August 2023, U.S. prosecutors sought a five-year prison sentence for Lichtenstein, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The couple laundered about 21% of the stolen Bitcoins.

The value of this amount was estimated to exceed $1 billion (1.396 trillion KRW) at the time of their arrest in 2022. Investigators tracked the Bitcoins hidden by the couple and seized funds worth more than $6 billion (8.376 trillion KRW) at current value. Lichtenstein has been in prison for two years and nine months since his arrest and expressed regret, saying, "I regret wasting my talent on crime without contributing to society." He added, "I take full responsibility for my actions and want to make amends by all means possible." Prosecutors have sought an 18-month prison sentence for his wife Morgan on the same charges, and the court is scheduled to deliver its verdict on the 18th of this month.

Meanwhile, the price of Bitcoin, which surged around the time of Donald Trump's election confirmation, is now faltering. As of 6:10 AM on the 18th, Bitcoin is trading at $89,526, down 1.57% compared to 24 hours ago, according to CoinMarketCap, a global cryptocurrency market tracking site. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

Meanwhile, Bitcoin prices, which surged around the time of Donald Trump's election confirmation, are now faltering. As of 6:10 a.m. on the 18th, Bitcoin was trading at $89,526, down 1.57% from 24 hours earlier, according to CoinMarketCap, a global cryptocurrency market tracking site. On that day, Bitcoin traded between a high of $91,433 and a low of $89,417. The outlook is mixed with both optimism and pessimism.

Some experts told Cointelegraph that if Bitcoin breaks through its previous high of $93,265, it could quickly surge to the psychological resistance level of $100,000. On the other hand, pessimists believe that if sellers win the buy-sell battle around $90,000, Bitcoin could fall to $85,000 in the short term.