Bitfinex Bitcoin Theft Hacker Ilya Lichtenstein Released Early

Odaily News: Ilya Lichtenstein, the hacker involved in the Bitfinex Bitcoin theft case, announced on platform X that he has been released early. He attributed this to the "First Step Act" signed by former US President Trump in 2018, which allows prisoners to earn sentence reductions by participating in rehabilitation programs. It is reported that Lichtenstein was sentenced to 5 years in prison in November 2024 for aiding in the laundering of nearly 120,000 bitcoins (worth approximately $4.5 billion at the time of the crime). His wife, Heather Morgan (online alias Razzlekhan), was sentenced to 18 months for aiding the crime and was released in October 2025.