Bitfinex Hacker Ilya Lichtenstein Released Early

Ilya Lichtenstein, the hacker convicted in one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts on record, was released early from federal prison on January 2, 2026, after serving about 14 months of a five-year sentence for money laundering tied to the 2016 Bitfinex hack.

Lichtenstein, 38, announced his release on X, formerly Twitter, crediting the First Step Act, a 2018 criminal justice reform law that allows certain inmates to earn time credits through rehabilitation programs and reduces sentences for nonviolent offenses. "Thanks to President Trump’s First Step Act, I have been released from prison early," he wrote. He is now under home confinement, in line with Bureau of Prisons policies, according to a former Trump administration official. Lichtenstein pleaded guilty in 2024 to conspiracy to commit money laundering after admitting he stole nearly 120,000 bitcoin from the Bitfinex exchange, a breach that involved exploiting the platform's internal systems and executing more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions to transfer the funds to his control.

The theft, which occurred in August 2016, was valued at about $71 million at the time but has since appreciated dramatically, with the stolen...