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 can already inform that Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan will stay perpetually in meme kind. The story is so unlikely that many individuals within the Bitcoin group are uncertain that it occurred as reported.
Related Reading | Bitcoin Stolen From Bitfinex Hack Moved For The First Time In Five Years
Could this tech entrepreneur and this author/ rapper have hacked a cryptocurrency alternate? Or are they only the cash launderers for a much bigger operation? And, did they actually save the non-public keys to billions in BTC on the cloud? Or had been they arrange? Is legislation enforcement enjoying methods on the general public or are they the heroes of the day?
Imagine being a hacker (or cash launderer) and protecting the unencrypted non-public keys to $3.5billion of #Bitcoin in a web-based account linked to your title
Mind blown 🤯
— Alistair Milne (@alistairmilne) February 8, 2022
We can’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. But first, a abstract.
What’s The Bitfinex Hack All About? And, Why Is It Relevant Now?
The “Statement Of Facts” out there on the justice.gov web site does job setting the stage:
“In or round August 2016, a hacker breached Victim VCE’s safety methods and infiltrated its infrastructure. While inside Victim VCE’s community, the hacker was in a position to provoke over 2,000 unauthorized BTC transactions, through which roughly 119,754 BTC was transferred from Victim VCE’s wallets4 to an outdoor pockets (Wallet 1CGA4s5 ). At the time of the breach, 119,754 BTC was valued at roughly $71 million. Due to the rise within the value6 of BTC because the breach, the stolen funds are valued at over $4.5 billion as of February 2022.“
That cash ended up in a Bitcoin handle related to Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, however discover that legislation enforcement by no means says they’re the Bitfinex hackers. In reality, the couple has solely been charged with cash laundering. But, what’s the story right here? Our sister website Bitcoinist does job thickening the plot:
“The suspects had been arrested in Manhattan, New York. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco known as the arrest, one of many largest when it comes to monetary seizure in historical past.
In that sense, the federal government official acknowledged that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies aren’t a “safe haven” for criminals. The assertion contradicts others made by public officers, resembling Senator Elizabeth Warren, which have emphasised the alleged use of crypto in prison actions. Monaco added:
“In a futile effort to maintain digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions. Thanks to the meticulous work of law enforcement, the department once again showed how it can and will follow the money, no matter what form it takes.”
Imagine sitting on $4,000,000,000 in stolen bitcoin, figuring out 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 important tweet, Dutch criticizes a New York Magazine article by saying, “Oh god no. So many words about posering on Twitter, almost nothing about how to secure your keys, send a transaction or get a Defi loan.”
Oh god no. So many phrases about posering on Twitter, virtually nothing about tips on how to 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 non-public keys within the cloud? We wouldn’t know. However, the justice.org report says:
“On January 31, 2022, law enforcement gained access to Wallet 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 a list of 2,000 virtual currency addresses, along with corresponding private keys. Blockchain analysis confirmed that almost all of those addresses were directly 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 “People are terrified of hackers and malware” part, Ilya Lichtenstein says:
Related Reading | All Altcoin Innovations Will “Ultimately Benefit Bitcoin”: Bitfinex Whale
“The biggest threat to mass adoption is without a doubt, security. It’s still way too hard to properly secure plain text private keys without making a mistake along the way. We cannot expect mainstream users to be security experts in a world where the most common password is still “123456”. Security must be in-built to the product by design, not left up the consumer.”
BTC worth chart for 02/09/2022 on Oanda | Source: 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 & Fashion Designer with synesthesia. Also Forbes writer.”
Her most important tweet says: “Good guiding compass to live by: How much of a POSITIVE IMPACT does your life have on others, including 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 purpose she’s rather more fascinating than her husband is her rap alter ego, Razzlekhan. Her movies aren’t out there on YouTube anymore, however you possibly can nonetheless hearken to the songs on Soundcloud. And, some Twitter customers captured clips of the movies earlier than they disappeared:
This is who stole 120k from the bitfinex hack https://t.co/CixE4XLbzj pic.twitter.com/Qm4dBeDq0I
— RSN (@puttinyadown) February 8, 2022
Below, there’s one other observe. Above, there’s a pattern of the couple’s Tik Tok content material:
pic.twitter.com/LQCNHUiLEf
— Warren Buckets 🔺 (@shillingbears) February 8, 2022
More fascinating 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:
“Companies that didn’t have already got distributed groups or do business from home insurance policies have struggled to transition to going totally distant amidst the pandemic.
Cybercriminals and fraudsters are profiting from this surprising disruption, resulting in a spike in scams and cybercrime.”
Protect your organization and purchasers from cyber crimes. BitGo’s Chief Compliance Officer, Matt Parrella, discusses methods with @HeatherReyhan. Experts Share Tips To Protect Your Business From Cybercriminals by way of @forbes https://t.co/MaNzge6vKq
— BitGo (@BitGo) June 18, 2020
Wacky music apart, does that sound like an individual who would launder cash by way of reward playing cards registered below her actual title? We wouldn’t know, however the justice.org report says:
“Records showed that portions of the $500 gift card were then redeemed through three transactions for personal items via the Walmart iPhone application. Each of the three redemptions were conducted online under MORGAN’s name, using one of MORGAN’s email addresses, and providing MORGAN and LICHTENSTEIN’s home address for delivery.”
What Does The Twitterati Think About The Alleged Bitfinex Hackers?
Bitcoin investor Alistair Milne questions the couple’s Opsec, “Imagine being a hacker (or money launderer) and keeping the unencrypted private keys to $3.5billion of Bitcoin in an online account linked to your name.” Bitcoin safety knowledgeable Jameson Lopp questions their selection of location, “Imagine sitting on $4,000,000,000 in stolen bitcoin, knowing you’re being hunted by nation states, and deciding that NYC is a smart place to hole up.”
Featured Image: The alleged Bitfinex hackers from this tweet | Charts by TradingView
