Bitfinex Hack Architect Walks Free Early, Credits 2018 Trump Law – The Unbelievable Details

The mastermind behind one of crypto's most infamous heists is out of prison years ahead of schedule—and he's thanking a controversial Trump-era law for his freedom.

The Get-Out-of-Jail Card Nobody Saw Coming

Forget complex encryption or a shadowy exit scam. The key to early release wasn't found on the blockchain, but buried in the 2018 First Step Act. The legislation, touted as a bipartisan win for criminal justice reform, has now sprung a figure central to the 2016 Bitfinex breach that shook the digital asset world to its core.

A Blueprint for Chaos, Then Clemency

The hack itself was a masterclass in digital theft, siphoning off a staggering sum that would be worth billions at today's prices. It wasn't just an attack on an exchange; it was a direct assault on investor confidence during crypto's formative years. The fallout triggered waves of regulatory scrutiny and became a go-to cautionary tale for every skeptic with a microphone.

Yet here we are. The individual who orchestrated the digital plunder is free, his sentence slashed thanks to a law that predates the current regulatory crackdown. It’s the kind of irony that writes itself—a statute from a different financial era cutting the lock on a crypto criminal’s cell.

Justice, Disrupted

This early release throws a wrench into the narrative of an increasingly tough stance on crypto crime. Federal prosecutors have been racking up wins, securing decades-long sentences for exchange founders and fraudsters. This case, however, introduces a confounding variable: legislative leniency overriding judicial consequences.

It begs the question the market hates to ask—are we really building a system where the rules apply equally, or just a new set of loopholes for the dedicated to exploit? The finance old guard will surely smirk; for them, it’s just another chapter in the 'wild west' saga they've been narrating all along.

The architect is free. The funds, largely, are still gone. And the market, once again, is left to reconcile the promise of immutable ledgers with the all-too-mutable nature of human justice.

Bitfinex Hack Mastermind Receives Early Release

On Friday, Ilya Lichtenstein, the mastermind behind the 2016 hack that stole over 120,000 Bitcoin (BTC) from crypto exchange Bitfinex, announced that he had been released from prison a year after receiving a five-year sentence.

On X, Lichtenstein thanked a law signed by President TRUMP during his first administration for his release. “Thanks to President Trump’s First Step Act, I have been released from prison early,” the post stated.

Notably, Trump signed the bipartisan First Step Act on December 21, 2018, aiming to improve criminal justice outcomes and reduce the size of the federal prison population. The law included a series of reforms, including one to establish a “risk and needs assessment system” that offers some inmates rehabilitative programming and the opportunity to be released early into home confinement.

According to CNBC, A Trump administration official stated on January 2 that the mastermind behind the Bitfinex hack “has served significant time on his sentence and is currently on home confinement consistent with statute and Bureau of Prisons policies.”

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) previously declared that Lichtenstein used advanced hacking techniques and tools to access Bitfinex’s network. He then transferred 119,574 Bitcoin to one of his crypto wallets through more than 2,000 transactions.

At the time, the stolen funds were valued at around $71 million. However, its value has increased exponentially in the past decade, being worth nearly $11 billion at current prices. During his sentencing hearing, he expressed remorse for using his talents on criminal activities “instead of a positive contribution to society.”

“I remain committed to making a positive impact in cybersecurity as soon as I can,” Lichtenstein affirmed on his Friday announcement, thanking his supporters for the help and vowing to prove “the haters” wrong.

Crypto Heist Figures Reunite Under Trump’s Law

Lichtenstein’s wife, Heather Morgan, reacted to the news online, declaring that being reunited at home with her husband after four years was “the best New Year’s present” she could get.

Morgan, a rapper known online as “Razzlekhan,” entered prison in February 2025 but was released early from prison after eight months under the First Step Act. In late October, she posted a video on X, sharing the news and thanking President Trump for her release.

“It is very good to be back, and I want to give a shout out to Papa Trump for making my 18-month sentence shorter,” she stated. However, it appears that the US President was not directly involved in the decision.

As reported by Bitcoinist, the self-titled “Crocodile of Wall Street” was sentenced to 18 months in prison on November 18, 2024, for her role in the Bitfinex heist. Despite not being involved in the hack, Morgan assisted her husband in laundering the stolen funds by using “numerous sophisticated laundering techniques” to disguise them.

Notably, they used fake identities to create online accounts, deposited the stolen bitcoin in several darknet markets and crypto exchanges to withdraw the funds, converted BTC to other cryptocurrencies, and deposited part of the funds into crypto mixers. The couple seemingly managed to launder 21% of the total funds stolen from Bitfinex.

At the time, prosecutors argued that Morgan was “a willing participant and bears full responsibility for her actions.” Nonetheless, they noted that she was “a lower-level participant,” which resulted in her reduced sentence.