- Bitfinex hacker Ilya Lichtenstein gets out of prison early.
- He was sentenced to five years behind bars in November 2024.
- Lichtenstein thanked Trump's First Step Act in helping him achieve an early release.
Ilya Lichtenstein, one of two people convicted of laundering nearly 120,000 Bitcoin stolen from the Bitfinex exchange in 2016, has thanked a law brought in under US President Donald Trump for his early release from prison.
In February 2022, US authorities arrested Lichtenstein and his co-conspirator and wife, Heather Morgan. They charged the pair with attempting to launder the huge Bitcoin haul, which was worth some $4.5 billion at the time.
“Thanks to President Trump’s First Step Act, I have been released from prison early,” Lichtenstein said in a Friday X post.
The First Step Act, signed into law by President Trump in 2018, allows prisoners to earn early release by completing rehabilitation programmes and engaging in productive activities.
On November 14 last year, Lichtenstein was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to his involvement in the Bitfinex heist.
Morgan, who assisted Lichtenstein in the theft, received an 18-month sentence. She was released in October after serving roughly eight months in prison.
Wave of leniency
Lichtenstein’s release comes amid a wave of leniency towards crypto criminals under President Trump’s administration.
In October, Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, received a presidential pardon after previously pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act for failing to implement an effective anti-money laundering programme at his exchange.
In March, Trump issued pardons for BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed, as well as early employee Greg Dwyer.
All four had pleaded guilty in 2022 to Bank Secrecy Act violations for failing to implement anti-money-laundering controls.
Viral sensation
Following their arrests in 2022, Lichtenstein and Morgan found notoriety online, largely due to Morgan’s passion project as rapper “Razzlekhan.”
She became a viral sensation for her outlandish hip-hop persona and off-kilter lyrics, continuing to write and release music up until she began serving her sentence in January 2025.
Lichtenstein, who was a regular in Morgan’s videos and social media posts, said in a December 2024 video recorded in prison that he alone was responsible for the Bitfinex heist, which occurred two years before he met Morgan.
He also expressed remorse for the crime and vowed to use his knowledge of hacking for good in the future.
To that end, Lichtenstein assisted US authorities in March 2024 by testifying against the alleged operator of crypto mixer Bitcoin Fog, Roman Sterlingov, who was convicted by a jury and sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison.
“I remain committed to making a positive impact in cybersecurity as soon as I can,” Lichtenstein said in his Friday post.
Morgan, on the other hand, has jumped back into her Razzlekhan persona since her release.
Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at tim@dlnews.com.
