The recovery of the stolen BTC from the 2016 Bitfinex hack used to be the concepts of the day. That fable’s protagonists, even though, they’re legends within the making. It is possible you’ll perhaps well presumably presumably also already elaborate that Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan will dwell regularly in meme make. The fable is so now not really that many other folks within the Bitcoin community are doubtful that it came about as reported.
Linked Reading | Bitcoin Stolen From Bitfinex Hack Moved For The First Time In 5 Years
May perhaps presumably well well this tech entrepreneur and this creator/ rapper private hacked a cryptocurrency change? Or are they factual the money launderers for a bigger operation? And, did they honestly set the non-public keys to billions in BTC on the cloud? Or were they diagram up? Is law enforcement playing suggestions on the public or are they the heroes of the day?
Imagine being a hacker (or money launderer) and keeping the unencrypted non-public keys to $3.5billion of #Bitcoin in an on-line checklist linked to your title
Mind blown 🤯
— Alistair Milne (@alistairmilne) February 8, 2022
We are in a position to’t answer those questions on the 2nd. What we can accumulate is detect the Bitfinex hackers’ social media to build up a sense of who they are. However first, a summary.
What’s The Bitfinex Hack All About? And, Why Is It Linked Now?
The “Statement Of Info” available on the justice.gov net page does a correct job atmosphere the stage:
“In or round August 2016, a hacker breached Victim VCE’s safety methods and infiltrated its infrastructure. While within Victim VCE’s network, the hacker used to be ready to galvanize over 2,000 unauthorized BTC transactions, wherein approximately 119,754 BTC used to be transferred from Victim VCE’s wallets4 to an birth air pockets (Wallet 1CGA4s5 ). At the time of the breach, 119,754 BTC used to be valued at approximately $71 million. Due to the amplify within the value6 of BTC since the breach, the stolen funds are valued at over $4.5 billion as of February 2022.“
That money ended up in a Bitcoin address associated with Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, nevertheless detect that law enforcement never says they’re the Bitfinex hackers. Actually, the couple has simplest been charged with money laundering. However, what’s the fable here? Our sister space Bitcoinist does a correct job thickening the diagram:
“The suspects were arrested in Long island, Original York. Deputy Attorney Trendy Lisa Monaco called the arrest, one of many finest in phrases of business seizure in history.
In that sense, the government official stated that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are now not a “safe haven” for criminals. The observation contradicts others made by public officials, similar to Senator Elizabeth Warren, which private emphasized the alleged expend of crypto in prison activities. Monaco added:
“In a futile effort to raise care of digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds via a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions. Due to the meticulous work of law enforcement, the division but as soon as more showed the strategy in which it is going to and can practice the money, it is now not no doubt famous what make it takes.”
Imagine sitting on $4,000,000,000 in stolen bitcoin, inspiring you’re being hunted by nation states, and deciding that NYC is a spellbinding recount to hole up.
— Jameson Lopp (@lopp) February 8, 2022
Who Is Dutch Ilya Lichtenstein?
Reportedly, Ilya Lichtenstein is a tech entrepreneur and YCombinator alum. In his Twitter, he defines himself as a “Human angel investor, web3 developer, serial entrepreneur.” In his main tweet, Dutch criticizes a Original York Magazine article by asserting, “Oh god no. So many phrases about posering on Twitter, nearly nothing about how to accurate your keys, ship a transaction or accumulate a Defi mortgage.”
Oh god no. So many phrases about posering on Twitter, nearly nothing about how to accurate your keys, ship a transaction or accumulate a Defi mortgage. @atsaraharrison Why??? https://t.co/vTU7w7xfsm
— Dutch Lichtenstein (@unrealdutch) November 30, 2021
Does that seem just like the Bitfinex hacker to you? Or, more importantly, does that seem like a person who would retailer his non-public keys within the cloud? We wouldn’t know. However, the justice.gov file says:
“On January 31, 2022, law enforcement received access to Wallet 1CGA4s by decrypting a file saved to LICHTENSTEIN’s cloud storage checklist,8 which had been got pursuant to a search warrant. The file contained a checklist of 2,000 digital currency addresses, alongside with corresponding non-public keys. Blockchain analysis confirmed that on the subject of all of those addresses were precise now linked to the hack.”
Bitfinex hackers… LOL… yeah certain pic.twitter.com/rFKwm3Eico
— Psychedelic El ₿arto (@PsychedelicBart) February 8, 2022
After all, in a piece of writing titled “Rethinking the Ethereum Wallet for Mass Adoption,” within the “Of us are petrified of hackers and malware” portion, Ilya Lichtenstein says:
Linked Reading | All Altcoin Innovations Will “Within the atomize Serve Bitcoin”: Bitfinex Whale
“The finest threat to mass adoption is no doubt, safety. It’s silent method too laborious to well accurate undeniable text non-public keys without making a mistake alongside the strategy in which. We are in a position to now not request mainstream customers to be safety consultants in a world where primarily the most trendy password is silent “123456”. Safety wants to be built in to the product by accumulate, now not left up the person.”
BTC trace chart for 02/09/2022 on Oanda | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Who Is Heather Morgan AKA Razzlekhan?
Reportedly, Heather Morgan is a winning copywriter who grew her have industry without birth air traders. On her Twitter page, she defines herself as a “Serial entrepreneur. SaaS Investor. Razzlekhan. Surrealist Artist, Rapper & Vogue Vogue designer with synesthesia. Also Forbes creator.”
Her main tweet says: “Moral guiding compass to dwell by: How phenomenal of a POSITIVE IMPACT does your existence private on others, including society & nature?”
Moral guiding compass to dwell by:
How phenomenal of a POSITIVE IMPACT does your existence private on others, including society & nature?
— Heather R Morgan (rzk.eth) (@HeatherReyhan) January 15, 2022
The reason she’s method more attention-grabbing than her husband is her rap alter ego, Razzlekhan. Her videos are now not available on YouTube anymore, nevertheless you most likely can silent eavesdrop on the songs on Soundcloud. And, some Twitter customers captured clips of the videos sooner than they disappeared:
Right here is who stole 120ample from the bitfinex hack https://t.co/CixE4XLbzj pic.twitter.com/Qm4dBeDq0I
— RSN (@puttinyadown) February 8, 2022
Below, there’s one other video display. Above, there’s a sample of the couple’s Tik Tok instruct:
— Warren Buckets 🔺 (@shillingbears) February 8, 2022
Extra attention-grabbing but, even though, is Morgan’s career as a Forbes creator. In her article titled “Experts Portion Guidelines To Offer protection to Your Industrial From Cybercriminals,” the supposed Bitfinex hacker says:
“Corporations that didn’t private already purchased distributed teams or invent money working from residence insurance policies private struggled to transition to going fully remote amidst the pandemic.
Cybercriminals and fraudsters are making primarily the most of this unexpected disruption, leading to a spike in scams and cybercrime.”
Offer protection to your firm and clients from cyber crimes. BitGo’s Chief Compliance Officer, Matt Parrella, discusses concepts with @HeatherReyhan. Experts Portion Guidelines To Offer protection to Your Industrial From Cybercriminals by strategy of @forbes https://t.co/MaNzge6vKq
— BitGo (@BitGo) June 18, 2020
Wacky song apart, does that sound like a person who would launder money via gift cards registered under her real title? We wouldn’t know, nevertheless the justice.gov file says:
“Records showed that portions of the $500 gift card were then redeemed via three transactions for private items by strategy of the Walmart iPhone utility. Every of the three redemptions were completed on-line under MORGAN’s title, the expend of one of MORGAN’s electronic mail addresses, and offering MORGAN and LICHTENSTEIN’s residence address for provide.”
What Does The Twitterati Mediate About The Alleged Bitfinex Hackers?
Bitcoin investor Alistair Milne questions the couple’s Opsec, “Imagine being a hacker (or money launderer) and keeping the unencrypted non-public keys to $3.5billion of Bitcoin in an on-line checklist linked to your title.” Bitcoin safety expert Jameson Lopp questions their chance of space, “Imagine sitting on $4,000,000,000 in stolen bitcoin, inspiring you’re being hunted by nation states, and deciding that NYC is a spellbinding recount to hole up.”
Featured Image: The alleged Bitfinex hackers from this tweet | Charts by TradingView
