A Blockchain Hustler and a Cringey Rapper Have Been Charged with Laundering $4.5B in Stolen Bitcoin

[{"selector":"#anim-2ac3af69-7cc2-4e76-97ad-648b9b64404c","keyframes":[{"transform":"scale(1)","offset":0},{"transform":"scale(1.05)","offset":0.33},{"transform":"scale(0.995)","offset":0.66},{"transform":"scale(1)","offset":1}],"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"ease-in-out","fill":"both","iterations":3}] A Blockchain Hustler and a Cringey Rapper Have Been Charged with Laundering $4.5B in Stolen Bitcoin

[{"selector":"#anim-9ba12541-d327-4ead-adf6-aa39c0b1cedf","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-29467776-ae7f-454e-b3b3-50257769b2d0","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-360deg) translate3d(-116.39871%, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)","rotate(-360deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)"]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] A blockchain hustler has been charged with laundering $4.5B in stolen bitcoin.

[{"selector":"#anim-24eb1864-eaf8-4ef4-a31e-fe93b69558cb","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-45e6e084-3fb7-4718-850a-b9eb6d5749ee","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-360deg) translate3d(-117.0418%, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)","rotate(-360deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)"]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Around 120,000 bitcoin were stolen in a 2016 hack.

[{"selector":"#anim-1af4cc42-bbd1-4af5-bc0b-5aa550eec4e3","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-501a3323-763c-4e00-b987-2ff13e5bbc7e","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-360deg) translate3d(-116.07717%, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)","rotate(-360deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)"]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] They have arrested two people on charges of conspiring to launder $4.5 billion in cryptocurrency.

[{"selector":"#anim-54834ef4-1239-4d43-a722-7143f7a967b5","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-6f4b3064-3ea1-4e17-b6b2-cef8e033077f","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-360deg) translate3d(-116.39871%, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)","rotate(-360deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)"]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] IIya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan conspired to launder the proceeds of stolen bitcoin.

[{"selector":"#anim-7268ac9a-11b2-4813-880b-141bdbf575ba","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-752f2ee3-1ebf-4b5b-9cae-52ef6d312c46","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-360deg) translate3d(-116.39871%, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)","rotate(-360deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)"]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] It was transferred to a digital wallet controlled by Lichtenstein.

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[{"selector":"#anim-21e8f740-1a85-4f16-9626-7894cc96ecc6","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-dfa5ee53-7de8-4198-b291-b87a3e41c5c1","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-360deg) translate3d(-116.39871%, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)","rotate(-360deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)"]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Federal agents were able to decrypt a file stored in Lichtenstein’s cloud storage account that provided a list of virtual currency addresses and keys in January.

[{"selector":"#anim-d37dfcb8-c425-4614-99a9-07631dbfcae6","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-2bf235c1-79b2-43ac-8734-ea69d94e93e4","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-360deg) translate3d(-116.39871%, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)","rotate(-360deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)"]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] More than 94,000 bitcoin were subsequently seized after the confirmation that nearly all of the addresses were directly linked to the hack.

[{"selector":"#anim-320c511b-02ab-4930-a2ff-ec81a5477aeb","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f200d63d-4d9b-4246-af09-87253498487a","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-360deg) translate3d(-116.39871%, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)","rotate(-360deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)"]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] They were valued more than $3.6 billion at the time of seizure.

[{"selector":"#anim-4c595f77-1497-4bfe-9e47-0a6a60dd3806","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-af00fb6b-67d4-4385-8fad-0b507d5d4698","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-360deg) translate3d(-117.0418%, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)","rotate(-360deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)"]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] They proved that they can follow money through the blockchain and cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for money laundering.

[{"selector":"#anim-bfa8c7fc-8332-44b0-9ca9-58420936de92","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-a7895ce0-b60c-4749-b965-a6603877b656","keyframes":{"transform":["rotate(-360deg) translate3d(-116.07717%, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)","rotate(-360deg) translate3d(0px, 0px, 0) rotate(360deg)"]},"delay":100,"duration":800,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] They said that they will take a firm stand against those who try to use virtual currencies for crime purposes.