Feds Seize $3.6 Billion in Bitcoin Stolen From Bitfinex Hack 78
The Justice Department announced Tuesday morning it seized more than $3.6 billion in allegedly stolen cryptocurrency linked to the 2016 hack of Bitfinex. As part of the operation, authorities detained a New York couple on allegations they planned to launder the digital goods. From a report: It marks the agency's largest financial seizure ever, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. Officials said they arrested Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31 and who also goes by the alias "razzlekhan". The couple is scheduled to make their initial appearances in federal court later in the day. Authorities accuse the pair of trying to launder the proceeds of 119,754 bitcoin that were stolen from Bitfinex's platform after a hacker breached Bitfinex's systems and initiated more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions. Prosecutors allege that the transactions sent the stolen bitcoin to Lichtenstein's digital wallet. Officials said they were able to seize more than 94,000 bitcoin, which was valued around $3.6 billion at the time of seizure. In all, the total stolen bitcoin is presently valued at approximately $4.5 billion, according to the agency. A 2019 rap video by Morgan.
Re: How is this done? (Score:1)
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The biggest hole in personal IT security, having an unencrpyted harddrive, storing valuable data not encrypted in multiple locations off your own devices and having password.txt next to wallet-passwords.txt
But how could the government come to these people .. well: BLOCKCHAIN - BLOCKCHAIN - BLOCKCHAIN open to see for everyone.
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ok I ammend that: not storing in the cloud, not using an easyguessable passphrase and not relying on zip-program encryption and not Using MS Excel password protected files.
Re:How is this done? (Score:5, Funny)
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I'm more interested in how they figured out who to beat with the $10 wrench.
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Re:How is this done? (Score:5, Informative)
I would honestly like to know how the government is able to seize cryptocurrency?
There are some interesting details in the Statement of Facts attached to the DOJ's Press Release: Download statement_of_facts_pacer.pdf [justice.gov]
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Press release:
"The 2017 transfers notwithstanding, the majority of the stolen funds remained in Wallet 1CGA4s from August 2016 until January 31, 2022. On January 31, 2022, law enforcement gained access to Wallet 1CGA4s by decrypting a file saved to LICHTENSTEIN’s cloud storage account, which had been obtained pursuant to a search warrant. The file contained a list of 2,000
virtual currency addresses, along with corresponding private keys.
Blockchain analysis confirmed that almost all10 of those
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I guess that's a good question - where to go after you make off with 3 billion in btc. I definitely would have had an exit strategy first.
However, 3 billion is an awful lot of motivation for someone to get you. Possibly do terrible things to you.
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To quote from Die Hard:
Well, when you steal $600, you can just disappear. When you steal 600 million, they will find you.
Most bitcoin theft, abuse, and laundering falls far short of such sums. They're also not investigated or prosecuted by the FBI. Reviewing the news and the FBI's own claims, I cannot find a single successful investigation by the FBI itself leading to a successful prosecution in the last 20 years. Does anyone know of a single successful computer crime investig
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Sure.
https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us... [fbi.gov]
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr... [justice.gov]
https://www.theverge.com/22599... [theverge.com]
Here they bag their own - https://news.bitcoin.com/rogue... [bitcoin.com]
Often it's the Secret Service's job to go after money type crimes. They'll get you if you pass a bad cash note. Apparently they're very good at it. They arrested a guy in my county for passing a $20 note in Baltimore back in the early 2000s when color copiers were making darn good copies. They had him the next time he was in Baltimore passing a ba
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I see no hint in those stories that the FBI or their computer crime lab did any of the investigative work assisted prosecutions in any way. Do you? Because my direct experience has been that they are nothing but a hindrance to actually investigating or prosecuting cybercriminals. Certainly, do not give the FBI credit because their agents were caught stealing Bitcoin. Whatever makes you think they were involved in the investigation?
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Let's take a look at the second one. It says the FBI had the private key. That's quite a clue that they were involved. The Dept of justice is announcing the bust, which is how it's supposed to work. James Comey for example was widely criticized for his Hillary announcement. If they didn't do it then who did? It's curious that they mention the key and don't go beyond that.
I'd like to think they're up to the task. I haven't worked with them in 20 years. However, back then they had a first rate computer invest
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It doesn't say how the FBI got the necessary private key, only that they had it. Given their historic incompetence, I'm assuming that it was provided by a private investigator or another agency. It's difficult to know without more details unlikely to appear in an FBI published report.
20 years ago? Did you see any hint that they'd learned anything technically, or in criminal investigation terms, from their gross mishandling of Kevin Mitnick in the 1990's? There was no hint of progress in their similarly gro
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You might be right. I don't have much faith or good regard for them right now. I suppose it's a lot of hope on my part that they have the ability to catch bad actors with coin. It's a very high risk investment. Anyone that has money in it would be very wise to dump it right now. It'll go down fast if Russia invades or the stock market dumps, which it's about to do.
The Mitnick case they clearly were caught flat footed. Totally shut out technically. Never the less, they did catch him. I knew people that worke
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Wouldn't having a medical issue be covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act? What condition would prevent his secret clearance, if you don't mind saying? I might understand that if the person needs profound pain control or other mind altering medications which might loosen his self control during treatment.
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The TS world is tough and expensive. You either pass or you don't. They don't get into medications and such. They presume you're lying or otherwise trying to deceive them. If you were to sue you'd be banned from there I bet. You'd also likely lose. I imagine a bad guy could use that to defeat the poly if they could use ada. You'd have to prove it was over the medication and that you weren't lying. Good luck with that. You won't even know what it was that caused the concern. They won't tell you. He's had man
When are we going to hear a story (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:When are we going to hear a story (Score:5, Funny)
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I understand that stuff's hell on bugs. Especially roaches.
Re:When are we going to hear a story (Score:4, Informative)
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So go ahead and counter the propaganda for us:
Very well. Wikileaks uses Bitcoin to evade a financial blockade by U.S. government, Senator McCain, Senator Lieberman, Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, Amex, and Moneybookers [bitcoin.com]..
But you knew that.
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Oddly, this poll from last July shows Democrats are 50% more likely than Republicans to believe that Assange is guilty of espionage. Perhaps it is because wikileaks was used by Russia to target Hillary. But it's a bit strange because the actual indictment against Assange is for helping Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning leak US secrets, and usually you'd expect Democrats to be less
Re:When are we going to hear a story (Score:4, Insightful)
I didn't know it. I think it's a constructive example. Not exactly a slam dunk since opinions about Assange are mixed at best.
I don't care if he's guilty of espionage or not, he could be the firstborn of Satan himself for what I care. The fact that you can get blocked like this out of any financial platforms when you step on wrong toes, when governments are sailing full steam ahead toward cashless future, should be enough to scare anyone shitless. And just that is for me reason enough to support Bitcoin. I'd rather live in a world where the sea level is 10 cm higher due to Bitcoin's CO2 effect than in the Orwellian nightmare we seem to be headed toward.
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That's because of the revelation of the contents of Hillary Clinton's personal computer server on which she engaged in both State Department business and campaign financing. It was clear evidence of her gross incompetence as Secretary of State, and the contents of the letters themselves were even more damning, and were one of the many compelling reasons for her failure to get elected.
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So Russian security service agents use it to provide funding to handlers in the west, still waiting for a positive use case.
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So Russian security service agents use it to provide funding to handlers in the west, still waiting for a positive use case.
Funny how he was every leftist's precious darling when he was publishing crap on Republicans, but once he posted some crap on Queen Hillary he's suddenly a "russian spy"
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Anonymous (though traceable [wsj.com]) payments, resilience to government's money-printing (also known as tax on wealth).
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and the propaganda is attacking it from different angles — from how it is used by criminals, to its impact on Global Warming [slashdot.org].
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
A quick search away (Score:2, Interesting)
About a positive use of Bitcoin?
When /.ers get over how butt-hurt they are for not buying in when it was first reported here in 2009
Here's a hand picked story [theguardian.com], just for you, about how bitcoin is solving the thing it was invented to solve.
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How are all those exchanges able to spend so much money on advertising now?
I can write a check or send cash if I'm worried about the middle man.
Re:When are we going to hear a story (Score:4, Insightful)
There are some legitimate uses. Some adult entertainers use cryptocurrencies because banks keep closing their accounts even though they are doing nothing illegal. Some in the marijuana industry in states where it is illegal are starting to use cryptocurrencies (marijuana is still illegal at the federal level preventing them from using banks).
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/0... [cnbc.com]
I am not a fan of cryptocurrencies for many reasons: 1) Proof of work cryptocurrencies are terrible for the environment. Proof of work cryptocurrencies should be banned or heavily taxed and the taxes used to offset their environmental impact. 2) They have no inherent value and are greater fool scams 3) They are insufficiently regulated. Exchanges should be regulated like banks with know your customer (KYC) requirements, proper compliance regulations (PCI, NY DFS, GLBA, etc.) so that we don't see another one hacked every week, etc. They are too easily used by criminals, terrorists, and hostile governments (OFAC compliance).
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Calling it "math you don't like" is overly simplifying things. Almost any software can be considered "doing math", but running copyrighted code without a license is illegal. There are many types of software like ransomware and viruses that are illegal. Software that is used to bypass copyright (DMCA) is currently illegal in the US for most purposes. There is some software that is illegal to distribute because of ITAR regulations in the US (e.g., open source GPS software). As another poster pointed out "doin
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When does one hear a positive story...about anything?
Feel-good news doesn't draw eyeballs and clicks, like shocking bad-news stories.
How to launder? (Score:1)
early life check (Score:1)
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Naw, just exposing them for who they are. I think the 0FUCKS hat says a lot by itself.
Funny how blockchains are perfect records.
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Basically when you listen to the text - and ignore the shitty music - the text actually gives clues about the heist, well perhaps its true what at least one ex-Cop/profiler in every TrueCrimeShow tells you, that the criminals actually feel the pressure to talk about it.
But are they the hackers? (Score:4, Interesting)
People have always suspected the Bitifinex "hack" was an inside job considering the timing of it and their liquidity problem when it happened. We still don't know if the people arrested are actually the "hackers" or just the middle-men/launderers. This will be interesting to watch unfold once they start talking.
Re:But are they the hackers? (Score:4, Insightful)
If you were going to hire middle-men/launderers, would you give them your entire stash at once? Seems odd that they would have the whole stash.
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Depends on their relationship. We'll just have to wait and see.
$3.6 billion at the time of seizure (Score:3)
"At the time of this story's publication, that value had changed to $11.43".
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"At the time of this story's publication, that value had changed to $11.43".
At the time of this comment, the value has changed to $3 trillion. And then when Slashdot posts the dupe, it will be back down to $20.
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And no doubt your local 7-Eleven is very, very worried about it's beer cooler when you drop in.
The real question (Score:4, Interesting)
Will the government return the funds? Or pocket it like all the other civil forfeiture they steal from people?
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Will the government return the funds? Or pocket it like all the other civil forfeiture they steal from people?
It's not a civil forfeiture if they arrest and file charges against the holders of the money. The money becomes criminal evidence whose disposition is made by court action after due process.
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No. Even if there is a process to claim one's stolen cryptocurrency, it will be so slow and laborious that very few people or companies will claim it, especially when it leaves a trail for federal accountants.
Lots of government resources (Score:3)
Based on the (pretty clueless) reporting, it seems that the government was able to track transactions through multiple wallets and mixers. That represents a huge commitment of resources for something that was only worth a few million at the time. One wonders why...
Criminals always think they are smart. For example, why didn't they run the funds through XMR? Lots more things they could have done...
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DOJ Press Release (Score:2)
“Today, federal law enforcement demonstrates once again that we can follow money through the blockchain, and that we will not allow cryptocurrency to be a safe haven for money laundering or a zone of lawlessness within our financial system,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The arrests today show that we will take a firm stand against those who allegedly try to use virtual currencies for criminal purposes.”
The Real Crime (Score:5, Insightful)
Was the rap video
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OMG, and her channel is filled with more of them plus weird random stuff that I am not sure if it is meant to be funny or serious. Like this cooking video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com] (not high volume, there's random clips of her "rapping" in there) if you go to 0:51 her beau who got arrested too comes in and has a tail, then speaks in a funny voice and they kiss. Couldn't watch beyond that, hopefully it doesn't get weirder...
A 2016 hack? (Score:3)
And they didn't cut and run when Bitcoin maxed out and started to decline?
Locking up the stupid thieves does everyone a service, although it might be good if the Americans sometimes locked up the smart thieves as well.
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The most interesting part of this story, IMHO... (Score:3)
...is how it proves the non-fungibility of cryptocurrencies in general - including supposedly fungible ones such as Bitcoin.
For each BTC it is possible (hell, easy!) to trace back its entire history, upon inception, and decide whether or not to accept them based on it. This was already the case with crypto going through tumbler services, which most exchanges will outright ban you from trading, but it is now true as well for crypto seized from illegal activities.