
According to reports, Lichtenstein has been released early under the First Step Act, a 2018 reform signed by Donald Trump, after his conviction tied to the 2016 Bitfinex Bitcoin theft.
Ilya Lichtenstein, a Russian-American tech entrepreneur convicted for laundering Bitcoin tied to the 2016 Bitfinex hack, has been released early from prison under the First Step Act. The law was signed in 2018 during Donald Trump’s presidency. Lichtenstein was sentenced in 2024 to five years for conspiracy to launder money and defraud the United States; his wife, Heather Morgan, received a shorter sentence.