The US government is once again active on the blockchain, moving approximately $606,000 worth of bitcoins. to Coinbase Prime.
These are not just any coins. On-chain data suggests that the 8 BTC transferred are linked to Ilya Lichtenstein, the man behind the decade-long hack of the OG Bitfinex exchange, according to data tracked by Arkham.
Transfers to exchanges are often interpreted as a sign of possible selling pressure. However, that is not always the case and could also reflect routine wallet movements, custody changes, or other activities unrelated to the sale.
These coins have a destiny.
The bitcoin linked to the Bitfinex hack, in which Lichtenstein made off with 119,756 BTC, has a court-ordered destination and is not the US Treasury.
In early 2025, federal proceedings solidified in-kind restitution of assets seized from Bitfinex, requiring the government to return the coins rather than independently liquidate them.
Bitfinex intends to use the returned funds to fully redeem all outstanding recovery rights tokens (digital claims issued to customers who suffered losses in the hack) and allocate at least 80% of the remaining net proceeds to buy back and burn its UNUS SED LEO token.
The trick of 2016
In August 2016, Lichtenstein hacked Bitfinex and fraudulently authorized more than 2,000 transactions, transferring 119,756 BTC to a wallet under his control. At the time, the exploit was worth approximately $72 million. (Today, it would be worth $8.9 billion)
What followed were years of sophisticated money laundering through cryptocurrency mixers, darknets and chain hopping between currencies, as well as the purchase of gold.
Finally, in 2022, investigators caught and confiscated a portion of the stolen BTC, then worth $3.6 billion. In 2024, Lichtenstein was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison and was released in January 2026 under the First Step Act, thanking President Donald Trump for X.
The stolen coins, however, remained in government custody. The United States said last year that its holdings of seized BTC would form part of a national strategic bitcoin reserve. As of this writing, the government holds bitcoin valued at approximately $24.54 billion, ether at approximately $146 million, and several other cryptocurrencies.
