The restoration of the stolen BTC from the 2016 Bitfinex hack was the information of the day. That story’s protagonists, although, they’re legends within the making. You may already inform that Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan will stay endlessly in meme kind. The story is so unlikely that many individuals within the Bitcoin group are uncertain that it occurred as reported.
Studying | Bitcoin Stolen From Bitfinex Hack Moved For The First Time In 5 Years
May this tech entrepreneur and this author/ rapper have hacked a cryptocurrency change? Or are they only the cash launderers for an even bigger operation? And, did they actually save the personal keys to billions in BTC on the cloud? Or have been they arrange? Is regulation enforcement taking part in tips on the general public or are they the heroes of the day?
Think about being a hacker (or cash launderer) and maintaining the unencrypted personal keys to $3.5billion of #Bitcoin in an internet account linked to your identify
Thoughts blown 🤯
— Alistair Milne (@alistairmilne) February 8, 2022
We will’t reply these questions in the mean time. What we are able to do is discover the Bitfinex hackers’ social media to get a way of who they’re. However first, a abstract.
What’s The Bitfinex Hack All About? And, Why Is It Related Now?
The “Statement Of Facts” available at the justice.gov web site does a superb job setting the stage:
“In or round August 2016, a hacker breached Sufferer VCE’s safety methods and infiltrated its infrastructure. Whereas inside Sufferer VCE’s community, the hacker was in a position to provoke over 2,000 unauthorized BTC transactions, by which roughly 119,754 BTC was transferred from Sufferer VCE’s wallets4 to an outdoor pockets (Pockets 1CGA4s5 ). On the time of the breach, 119,754 BTC was valued at roughly $71 million. As a result of improve within the value6 of BTC for the reason that breach, the stolen funds are valued at over $4.5 billion as of February 2022.“
That cash ended up in a Bitcoin tackle related to Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, however discover that regulation enforcement by no means says they’re the Bitfinex hackers. In actual fact, the couple has solely been charged with cash laundering. However, what’s the story right here? Our sister website Bitcoinist does a good job thickening the plot:
“The suspects have been arrested in Manhattan, New York. Deputy Legal professional Basic Lisa Monaco known as the arrest, one of many largest by way of monetary seizure in historical past.
In that sense, the federal government official acknowledged that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are usually not a “secure haven” for criminals. The assertion contradicts others made by public officers, corresponding to Senator Elizabeth Warren, which have emphasised the alleged use of crypto in prison actions. Monaco added:
“In a futile effort to keep up digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds by a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions. Due to the meticulous work of regulation enforcement, the division as soon as once more confirmed the way it can and can comply with the cash, it doesn’t matter what kind it takes.”
Think about sitting on $4,000,000,000 in stolen bitcoin, understanding you are being hunted by nation states, and deciding that NYC is a great place to gap up.
— Jameson Lopp (@lopp) February 8, 2022
Who Is Dutch Ilya Lichtenstein?
Reportedly, Ilya Lichtenstein is a tech entrepreneur and YCombinator alum. In his Twitter, he defines himself as a “Human angel investor, web3 developer, serial entrepreneur.” In his most vital tweet, Dutch criticizes a New York Journal article by saying, “Oh god no. So many phrases about posering on Twitter, nearly nothing about how one can safe your keys, ship a transaction or get a Defi mortgage.”
Oh god no. So many phrases about posering on Twitter, nearly nothing about how one can safe your keys, ship a transaction or get a Defi mortgage. @atsaraharrison Why??? https://t.co/vTU7w7xfsm
— Dutch Lichtenstein (@unrealdutch) November 30, 2021
Does that appear just like the Bitfinex hacker to you? Or, extra importantly, does that appear like an individual who would retailer his personal keys within the cloud? We wouldn’t know. Nevertheless, the justice.gov report says:
“On January 31, 2022, regulation enforcement gained entry to Pockets 1CGA4s by decrypting a file saved to LICHTENSTEIN’s cloud storage account,8 which had been obtained pursuant to a search warrant. The file contained an inventory of two,000 digital foreign money addresses, together with corresponding personal keys. Blockchain evaluation confirmed that the majority of these addresses have been straight linked to the hack.”
Bitfinex hackers… LOL… yeah positive pic.twitter.com/rFKwm3Eico
— Psychedelic El ₿arto (@PsychedelicBart) February 8, 2022
In any case, in an article titled “Rethinking the Ethereum Wallet for Mass Adoption,” within the “Persons are scared of hackers and malware” part, Ilya Lichtenstein says:
Studying | All Altcoin Improvements Will “In the end Profit Bitcoin”: Bitfinex Whale
“The largest menace to mass adoption is for sure, safety. It’s nonetheless method too arduous to correctly safe plain textual content personal keys with out making a mistake alongside the way in which. We can not count on mainstream customers to be safety consultants in a world the place the most typical password remains to be “123456”. Safety must be in-built to the product by design, not left up the person.”
BTC value chart for 02/09/2022 on Oanda | Supply: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Who Is Heather Morgan AKA Razzlekhan?
Reportedly, Heather Morgan is a profitable copywriter who grew her personal enterprise with out exterior buyers. On her Twitter web page, she defines herself as a “Serial entrepreneur. SaaS Investor. Razzlekhan. Surrealist Artist, Rapper & Vogue Designer with synesthesia. Additionally Forbes author.”
Her most vital tweet says: “Good guiding compass to stay by: How a lot of a POSITIVE IMPACT does your life have on others, together with society & nature?”
Good guiding compass to stay by:
How a lot of a POSITIVE IMPACT does your life have on others, together with society & nature?
— Heather R Morgan (rzk.eth) (@HeatherReyhan) January 15, 2022
The explanation she’s far more attention-grabbing than her husband is her rap alter ego, Razzlekhan. Her movies are usually not obtainable on YouTube anymore, however you may nonetheless listen to the songs on Soundcloud. And, some Twitter customers captured clips of the movies earlier than they disappeared:
That is who stole 120k from the bitfinex hack https://t.co/CixE4XLbzj pic.twitter.com/Qm4dBeDq0I
— RSN (@puttinyadown) February 8, 2022
Under, there’s one other observe. Above, there’s a pattern of the couple’s Tik Tok content material:
— Warren Buckets 🔺 (@shillingbears) February 8, 2022
Extra attention-grabbing but, although, is Morgan’s profession as a Forbes author. In her article titled “Experts Share Tips To Protect Your Business From Cybercriminals,” the supposed Bitfinex hacker says:
“Corporations that didn’t have already got distributed groups or earn a living from home insurance policies have struggled to transition to going absolutely distant amidst the pandemic.
Cybercriminals and fraudsters are making the most of this surprising disruption, resulting in a spike in scams and cybercrime.”
Shield your organization and purchasers from cyber crimes. BitGo’s Chief Compliance Officer, Matt Parrella, discusses methods with @HeatherReyhan. Consultants Share Suggestions To Shield Your Enterprise From Cybercriminals through @forbes https://t.co/MaNzge6vKq
— BitGo (@BitGo) June 18, 2020
Wacky music apart, does that sound like an individual who would launder cash by reward playing cards registered below her actual identify? We wouldn’t know, however the justice.gov report says:
“Data confirmed that parts of the $500 reward card have been then redeemed by three transactions for private gadgets through the Walmart iPhone software. Every of the three redemptions have been carried out on-line below MORGAN’s identify, utilizing considered one of MORGAN’s e-mail addresses, and offering MORGAN and LICHTENSTEIN’s residence tackle for supply.”
What Does The Twitterati Suppose About The Alleged Bitfinex Hackers?
Bitcoin investor Alistair Milne questions the couple’s Opsec, “Think about being a hacker (or cash launderer) and maintaining the unencrypted personal keys to $3.5billion of Bitcoin in an internet account linked to your identify.” Bitcoin safety knowledgeable Jameson Lopp questions their alternative of location, “Think about sitting on $4,000,000,000 in stolen bitcoin, understanding you’re being hunted by nation states, and deciding that NYC is a great place to gap up.”
Featured Picture: The alleged Bitfinex hackers from this tweet | Charts by TradingView