U.S. government wallets moved a small parcel of Bitcoin tied to the 2016 Bitfinex hack on Thursday, sending roughly 8.2 BTC to Coinbase Prime, Arkham Intelligence’s on-chain tracking shows. At current prices the transfer is worth about $628,000. Arkham notes the coins were last moved two years ago when a different government address routed them into a wallet it has labeled “Bitfinex hacker seized funds.”
A Department of Justice representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment about whether the transfer is connected to Bitfinex or what the government’s plans are for the coins. Moves to major exchanges are often read as a potential prelude to selling, but no public indication has been given that the government intends to liquidate these particular funds.
The 8.2 BTC is a tiny sliver of the holdings tied to the case. As part of the investigation and prosecutions related to the hack, U.S. authorities have seized more than 94,000 BTC — assets now worth over $7.2 billion. The original Bitfinex theft totaled 119,754 BTC, which at today’s pricing would be roughly $9.18 billion.
Prosecutors say Ilya Lichtenstein orchestrated the hack by exploiting a security vulnerability at Bitfinex. He and his wife, Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan, were arrested in 2022 on money‑laundering charges. Lichtenstein pleaded guilty in 2023 and was sentenced in 2024 to five years in prison; Morgan received an 18‑month sentence. As part of plea agreements, the couple agreed to forfeit remaining proceeds from the nearly 120,000 BTC stolen from the exchange.
Both were recently released from prison, and have credited former President Trump for their early release—comments that came despite no reported official commutation from the president. Morgan publicly celebrated the shortened term, saying, “I want to give a shoutout to Papa Trump for making my 18‑month sentence shorter,” and adding her trademark sign‑off, “So razzle‑fucking‑dazzle.”
This latest micro-movement of seized coins adds to a sporadic pattern of government transfers linked to the Bitfinex case. Whether more tranches will be moved to exchanges or liquidated remains an open question until federal authorities provide clarity.
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