Bitfinex Bitcoin Hacker Ilya Lichtenstein Credits Trump for Early Prison Release
January 2, 2026 — Ilya Lichtenstein, the convicted hacker behind one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in history, has announced his early release from prison, attributing it to the bipartisan First Step Act signed into law by former President Donald Trump.
Lichtenstein, a Russian-American national, was sentenced in November 2024 to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to money laundering conspiracy charges related to a massive hack of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange. The hack resulted in the theft of nearly 120,000 bitcoins, now worth billions of dollars.
Late Thursday night, Lichtenstein took to his official X (formerly Twitter) account to share the news of his release. In his post, he thanked President Trump for the First Step Act, the criminal justice reform legislation enacted in December 2018 during Trump’s first term. The law aims to reduce the federal prison population by allowing certain inmates early release based on risk and needs assessments, among other reforms.
“Thanks to President Trump’s First Step Act, I have been released from prison early,” Lichtenstein said in the post. He went on to express his intention to contribute positively to cybersecurity in the future. “To the supporters, thank you for everything. To the haters, I look forward to proving you wrong,” he wrote.
A Trump administration official confirmed to CNBC on Friday that Lichtenstein had served significant time of his sentence and was currently under home confinement in accordance with statute and Bureau of Prisons policies. As of the same morning, the federal inmate locator still listed Lichtenstein’s projected release date as February 9, 2026, suggesting recent updates to his status may not yet be reflected.
Lichtenstein’s wife, Heather Morgan, who was also implicated in laundering the stolen bitcoin and pleaded guilty, shared his message with enthusiasm. Morgan, a rapper who performs under the stage name “Razzlekhan” and was nicknamed “The Crocodile of Wall Street,” posted a selfie of the couple smiling on her X account. “The best New Year’s present I could get was finally having my husband home after 4 years of being apart,” she wrote.
Morgan herself was sentenced to 18 months in prison and entered custody in February. She revealed in late October that she had also been released early, humorously thanking Trump for shortening her sentence during a video posted from a bathtub.
Since their arrests in 2022, the couple’s case attracted significant attention due to the unprecedented scale of the cryptocurrency heist and the enormous value of the stolen assets. The hacking operation occurred over five years prior to their arrests, highlighting the complexity and duration of the ensuing investigation.
While it remains unclear whether the Trump administration or the White House directly intervened in securing these early releases, the announcements follow a string of high-profile clemency actions related to notable figures in the cryptocurrency and cybercrime sectors since Trump’s return to office earlier this year. Among these were pardons granted to Ross Ulbricht, founder of the now-defunct Silk Road dark web marketplace, and Changpeng Zhao, founder of the Binance crypto exchange, who had pleaded guilty to charges involving money laundering facilitation.
The First Step Act, enacted in December 2018, sought to reform federally run prisons and reduce recidivism through several measures, including the introduction of home confinement for qualifying inmates. Lichtenstein’s attorneys have not yet responded to requests for comment regarding his early release. Similarly, the Bureau of Prisons has not issued an immediate statement.
As Lichtenstein reenters public life, he promises to focus his expertise toward positive contributions in cybersecurity, signaling a potential new chapter after his criminal conviction and imprisonment.
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