Ilya Lichtenstein, who was sentenced to prison last year on money laundering charges for his role in the massive hack of the virtual currency exchange Bitfinex in 2016, said he was released early.
In a post shared on X last week, the 38-year-old announced his release by praising US President Donald Trump’s First Step Act. According to Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate search information, Lichtenstein is scheduled to be released on February 9, 2026.
“I remain committed to making a positive impact on cybersecurity as quickly as possible,” Lichtenstein added. “To all the supporters, thank you so much. To all the haters, I look forward to proving you wrong.”
The First Step Act, passed by the Trump administration in 2018, is a bipartisan piece of legislation aimed at improving criminal justice outcomes and reducing the federal prison population through a series of reforms, including establishing a “risk and needs assessment system” to determine risk of recidivism and, in some cases, create a path toward early release.
Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Rhiannon “Razulcan” Morgan, pleaded guilty in 2023 to hacking Bitfinex after their February 2022 arrests. In a 2016 security breach, Lichtenstein fraudulently approved more than 2,000 transactions and transferred 119,754 Bitcoin (worth approximately $71 million at the time) from Bitfinex to a cryptocurrency wallet under his control.
Law enforcement officials also recovered approximately 94,000 Bitcoins (worth approximately $3.6 billion in 2022), making it one of the largest seizures in U.S. history. In January 2025, U.S. prosecutors filed a motion to return the recovered assets to Bitfinex.
Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs said Lichtenstein exploited a vulnerability in Bitfinex’s multi-signature withdrawal setup to initiate and approve withdrawals from Bitfinex without requiring approval from third-party digital asset trust company BitGo.
The illegal proceeds were then converted into other cryptocurrencies and leaked through commingling services such as Bitcoin Fog, but the couple’s role came to light when they used the stolen bitcoins to purchase Walmart gift cards on an anonymous crypto exchange. The gift cards were redeemed using Walmart’s iPhone app on an account in Morgan’s name.
Lichtenstein was sentenced to five years in prison in November 2024. Morgan, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison shortly thereafter, posted on X in late October 2025, stating that it “seems like a month ago” that he was released and that “prison was cold enough.”
In a statement shared with CNBC, Trump administration officials said Lichtenstein “has served a significant portion of his sentence and is currently on home confinement in accordance with the law and Bureau of Prisons policy.” Morgan also confirmed the news in a message to X, saying: “The best New Year’s gift for me was my husband finally coming home after four years of separation.”
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