In a significant move, the United States government has transferred a staggering $922 million worth of Bitcoin from two cryptocurrency wallets that were holding funds seized from Bitfinex back in 2016.
Interestingly, these transfers took place on the same day that Bitcoin (BTC) surged past the $60,000 mark for the first time in over two years, on February 28. In the 24 hours leading up to 9:45 pm UTC, Bitcoin rose by 5.52% and was being traded at $62,507. This surge resulted in a 20% increase in the value of the world’s first cryptocurrency in just one week.
The initial test transfer, valued at just 1 Bitcoin (which was worth $60,200 during the transfer), was executed at 3:39 pm on February 28. Shortly after that, the U.S. government-labeled wallet conducted a second transaction, transferring 2,817 Bitcoins (equivalent to $172.74 million). This was followed by a third transaction worth 0.01 Bitcoin ($613.35) and a fourth transaction transferring 12,267 Bitcoins ($748.46 million), as per the data provided by Arkham Intelligence.
It is worth noting that the government had seized these funds back in 2016 after Bitfinex was hacked, resulting in the loss of approximately 119,754 Bitcoins, which were valued at over $7.4 billion at the current market price.
The timing of these transfers is particularly intriguing, as they occurred just a day after Ilya Lichtenstein, the mastermind behind one of the largest Bitcoin heists in the world, appeared in a Washington court and revealed the details of his elaborate scheme. Lichtenstein, who had stolen and laundered more than $4.5 billion worth of Bitcoin from the Bitfinex exchange, disclosed that he had gained access to Bitfinex’s systems and had hacked into individual accounts at other exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken.
Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan (also known as Razzlekhan), were arrested in February 2022. The U.S. government accused them of conspiring to launder $4.5 billion in hacked Bitcoin, and as a result, the government seized $3.6 billion in what became the largest financial seizure in history. Additionally, another $475 million worth of Bitcoin was seized on August 3, 2022.
In August 2023, Lichtenstein and his wife pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy charges related to the Bitfinex hack.
Interestingly, Amazon is reportedly working on a movie about the Bitfinex money launderers. The script is said to be inspired by a 2022 article in The New York Times that described the couple as “Bitcoin’s Bonnie and Clyde.”
In light of these recent developments, it is natural to wonder what has led to the surge in Bitcoin’s price.