The US government has officially said that more than $11 billion in seized Bitcoin would be returned to its rightful owners. In fact, according to a new filing, officials said the 120,000 BTC seized in connection with the 2016 Bitfinex hack should be returned as “in-kind restitution.”
At the time of the theft, the stolen cryptocurrencies were worth around $70 million. With the asset rising in value over the past few years, the compromised Bitcoin tokens are worth much more. In November last year, the man responsible for the hack was also sent to prison. He actually got five years in prison, according to a press release from the US Department of Justice.
JUST IN: 🇺🇸 US government says 120,000 seized Bitcoin worth $11.87 billion from Bitfinex hack should be returned to its rightful owners.
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) 15 January 2025
US government says 120,000 seized BTC should be returned to rightful owners
In 2016, the attack on Bitfinex was among the biggest cryptocurrency thefts. Now, almost nine years later, it remains one of the biggest tragedies the industry has faced. At the end of last year, Ilya Lichtenstein, responsible for the attack, had been convicted of his involvement in the attack.
Now there has been a decisive development regarding what to do with the cryptocurrency funds that were seized. According to a recent court filing shared on X (formerly Twitter), the US government has said that the $11.87 billion in seized Bitcoin from the Bitfinex hack should be returned to its rightful owners.
Read also: US government moves Bitcoin worth $1.92 billion
Conversely, the US government is one of the largest holders of Bitcoin in the world. The country actually has more than $20 billion of the leading cryptocurrency, according to Arkham Intelligence data. Most of these assets were seized from the Silk Road Marketplace.
