The US Government Transfers $922 Million in Bitcoin Coinciding with BTC’s First Surge Above $60,000 in Over Two Years
The US government has transferred $922 million in Bitcoin from two cryptocurrency wallets containing funds seized during the 2016 Bitfinex hack. These transfers coincided with Bitcoin crossing the $60,000 mark for the first time in over two years on February 28, soaring to an impressive $64,000.
Transfer Details
The first test transfer, valued at ‘only’ 1 Bitcoin ($60,200 at the time of transfer), took place on the afternoon of February 28. Shortly after, the wallet labeled as belonging to the US government sent a second transaction of 2,817 BTC ($172.74 million), a third transaction of 0.01 Bitcoin ($613.35), and a fourth transaction of 12,267 bitcoins ($748.46 million), according to Arkham Intelligence data.
Context of the Bitfinex Hack
The funds were seized in 2016 after Bitfinex fell victim to a hack, losing around 119,754 BTC, valued at over $7.4 billion at the current price. The transfers occurred a day after Ilya Lichtenstein appeared in a Washington courtroom, detailing how he carried out one of the world’s largest Bitcoin thefts.
Lichtenstein revealed to the jury on February 27 that he had gained access to Bitfinex’s systems for several months while hacking individual accounts on other exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken. He and his wife, Heather Morgan, were arrested in February 2022, accused of conspiring to launder $4.5 billion in stolen Bitcoin. The government seized $3.6 billion in the largest financial seizure in history.
A film about the two Bitfinex hackers is currently in development by Amazon, inspired by The New York Times article that dubbed them the ‘Bonnie & Clyde of Bitcoin’.
