After it became clear that several branches of US law enforcement agencies apprehended a man and a woman for conspiracy to launder nearly 120,000 BTC stolen from Bitfinex in 2016, the exchange’s crypto token skyrocketed by double digits.
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- The 119,754 bitcoins stolen in 2016 from Bitfinex is one of the largest and most discussed heists in the cryptocurrency industry. While the swiped amount was worth around $70 million six years ago, today it’s more than $5 billion due to BTC’s massive price appreciation.
- The anonymous hackers have attempted numerous transfers of the stolen coins throughout the years but have failed to cash out substantial quantities as all associated wallets were blacklisted.
- After nearly six years, the US Department of Justice highlighted a highly positive development on this front yesterday.
- A joint investigation by IRS-CI Washington, FBI’s Chicago Field Office, HSI-New York, and others led to the arrest of Ilya Lichtenstein (34) and his wife – Heather Morgan (31) – for conspiring to launder the proceeds of the stolen bitcoins.
- Keeping in mind the significance of this event, Bitfinex’s native cryptocurrency reacted in a highly positive manner.
- LEO traded around $5 ahead of the DOJ’s announcement but skyrocketed by more than 60% in the following few hours.
- By doing so, it surpassed a price tag of $8 and charted a new all-time high at that point. Despite retracing to just over $7 as of now, the token is still up by double-digits since yesterday.
