Hacker from Russia who stole a record amount of bitcoins is sentenced to five years in prison in the United States
Kyiv • UNN
Ilya Lichtenstein has been sentenced to 5 years in prison for hacking the Bitfinex exchange in 2016. The hacker stole 120,000 bitcoins, the value of which increased from $71 million to almost $10 billion.
Liechtenstein pleaded guilty last year in the case of hacking the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex in 2016.
Writes UNN with reference to BBC.
Details
Ilya Lichtenstein, one of the people who admitted responsibility for hacking the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange in 2016, was sentenced to five years in prison.
Liechtenstein pleaded guilty last year to a case of hacking into the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange in 2016 and stealing nearly 120,000 bitcoins.
At the time, the amount stolen was estimated at $71 million, but later, given the sharp rise in the price of bitcoin, it rose to $4.5 billion.
At today's exchange rate, this amount is close to $10 billion.
For reference
Lichtenstein, an entrepreneur and cryptocurrency investor, is a US citizen who was born in Russia and raised in the suburbs of Chicago.
Bitcoin is the largest and oldest cryptocurrency, i.e. digital money that is not usually backed by any government or banking institution. Transactions are recorded using a technology called the blockchain.
NuggetNugget
Ukrainian special services were part of an international law enforcement group that blocked the infrastructure of LockBit hackers.
