Elliptic Analysis: New York Husband and Wife Arrested for Allegedly Laundering $5 Billion in Bitcoin Stolen from Bitfinex in 2016www.elliptic.co/blog/elliptic-analysis-new-york-husband-and-wife-arrested-for-laundering-5-billion-in-bitcoin-stolen-from-bitfinex-in-2016
21 sats \ 22 comments \ @nout 8 Feb 2022 bitcoin
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31 sats \ 0 replies \ @phaedrus 8 Feb 2022
Feds are stacking!
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21 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 8 Feb 2022
Is it true they had the keys in plaintext on Google Drive? Crazy.
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @nout OP 8 Feb 2022
The DOJ report says the keys were in an encrypted file... so I'm guessing weak password or NSA/FBI knows how to break that specific cypher.
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20 sats \ 0 replies \ @cointastical 9 Feb 2022
So wait - lemme get this straight.
They tracked him via Gyft and an American(!) VPN; where he had used his real name, email and home address purchased with the stolen BTC? Which, by the way, were all stored on Dropbox account along with a spreadsheet of all his activity?
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9 sats \ 1 reply \ @cointastical 8 Feb 2022
Netflix producers currently sprinting around the office preparing to produce an eight-part series about this
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DOJ just arrested two individuals and seized $3.6 billion of bitcoin related to the 2016 Bitfinex hack.
Heather Morgan, "also known as RAZZLEKHAN," is one of the two individuals involved in the alleged scheme.
This is one of her rap videos Face with tears of joyFace with tears of joyFace with tears of joy
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @cointastical 8 Feb 2022
You couldn't make this up!
Got Burnout? This Tech CEO Thinks You Should Try Rapping https://www.forbes.com/sites/heathermorgan/2019/04/30/got-burnout-tech-ceo-try-rapping
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10 sats \ 4 replies \ @cryptocoin 8 Feb 2022
Posts from elsewhere on this topic:
The Largest Financial Seizure Ever' - DoJ Recovers Billions In Bitcoin From 2016 Bitfinex Hack, Couple Arrested https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/largest-financial-seizure-ever-doj-announces-billions-bitcoin-2016-bitfinex-hack-recovered
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5 sats \ 2 replies \ @cryptocoin 8 Feb 2022
The criminal complaint alleges that Lichtenstein and Morgan employed numerous sophisticated laundering techniques, including using fictitious identities to set up online accounts; utilizing computer programs to automate transactions, a laundering technique that allows for many transactions to take place in a short period of time; depositing the stolen funds into accounts at a variety of virtual currency exchanges and darknet markets and then withdrawing the funds, which obfuscates the trail of the transaction history by breaking up the fund flow; converting bitcoin to other forms of virtual currency, including anonymity-enhanced virtual currency (AEC), in a practice known as “chain hopping”; and using U.S.-based business accounts to legitimize their banking activity.
I think I would have had my paper returned to me in grammar class if had I written a single sentence that was that long.
I thnk I would get kicked off Crypto Twitter if I referred to Monero, for instance, as being an "anonymity-enhanced virtual currency (AEC)".
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20 sats \ 1 reply \ @phaedrus 8 Feb 2022
Any info on how this got tracked? Ie. hops between Btc and Monero?
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1 sat \ 0 replies \ @cryptocoin 9 Feb 2022
There has been some chatter by those sleuthing the sleuthers, but I don't follow it closely.
What the authorities and these chain analysis orgs tell us they did (which sounds like magic) is certainly in actuality where they had KYC exchange data and high value amounts that didn't correspond with that person's story (also known as a lifestyle audit). So they then observe more closely and if more shady stuff found, then they start to make links, very likely using data collection methods like subpeonaing the couple's accounts and hacking their devices (if needed) or whatever, to know if their suspicions were actually on to something. Just that in this case it, allegedly, led to a monster size theft.
Who knows.
Moral of the story, if you make yourself a target, you will be targeted.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryptocoin 8 Feb 2022
Another article:
DOJ Recovers $3.6 Billion In Bitcoin Stolen In Bitfinex Hack https://bitcoinmagazine.com/markets/doj-recovers-36-billion-in-bitcoin-stolen-in-bitfinex-hack
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5 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryptocoin 8 Feb 2022
Old (2016) article following the Bitfinex hack:
What the Bitfinex Hack Means for Bitcoin Multi-Sig Security https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2016/08/05/what-the-bitfinex-hack-means-for-bitcoin-multi-sig-security/
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5 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryptocoin 8 Feb 2022
The remainder of the stolen funds, now worth $4.1 billion, were moved to a new wallet just last week, the first movement of these funds since the 2016 theft. This appears to represent the seizure of the bitcoins from Lichtenstein and Morgan, by law enforcement.
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5 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryptocoin 8 Feb 2022
https://www.elliptic.co/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202022-02-08%20at%2018.39.59.png
A diagram from the arrest warrant, showing how the stolen bitcoins were traced through Alphabay and another exchange - and onwards to a further exchange account in the name of Lichtenstein.
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5 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryptocoin 8 Feb 2022
https://www.elliptic.co/hs-fs/hubfs/laundered.png
Number of bitcoins from the Bitfinex hack received each month by the largest destinations. A significant amount of time can elapse between the funds leaving the theft wallet, and reaching one of these destinations.
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5 sats \ 4 replies \ @cryptocoin 8 Feb 2022
The DOJ's Press Release:
Two Arrested for Alleged Conspiracy to Launder $4.5 Billion in Stolen Cryptocurrency https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-arrested-alleged-conspiracy-launder-45-billion-stolen-cryptocurrency
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0 sats \ 3 replies \ @cointastical 8 Feb 2022
Related:
US DOJ: Two Arrested for Alleged Conspiracy to Launder $4.5 Billion in Stolen Cryptocurrency #10790 https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1470211/download
DOJ seizes 3.6bn in stolen bitcoin #10784 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-08/doj-seizes-3-6-billion-in-bitcoin-stolen-in-2016-bitfinex-hack
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1 sat \ 2 replies \ @cointastical 9 Feb 2022
Related:
Issue #1159: Bitfinex hackers have been caught | Marty's Bent #10881 https://tftc.io/martys-bent/issue-1159-bitfinex-hackers-have-been-caught
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @cointastical 9 Feb 2022
Related:
2016 Bitfinix Hacked Coins Seized by Feds, Two Arrested #10781 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/02/08/bitfinex-hack-bitcoin-arrests/
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cointastical 9 Feb 2022
Related:
Justice Department retrieves $3.6 billion in Bitcoin from 2016 hack #10982 https://www.wealthiertoday.com/news/justice-department-retrieves-3-6-billion-in-bitcoin-from-2016-hack/
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cointastical 8 Feb 2022
The US government can seize Tesla, Microstrategy and El Salvador Bitcoins with the stroke of a pen
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryptocoin 8 Feb 2022
Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, both of New York, New York, are scheduled to make their initial appearances in federal court today at 3:00 p.m. in Manhattan.
Lichtenstein, Lichtenstein! https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=86&v=heFkmvxZytY
That's the first thing that popped into my head, sorry.
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