The U.S. government moved more than $1 billion worth of Bitcoin tied to the 2016 Bitfinex hack on Thursday. A wallet labeled by blockchain analytics firm Arkham as holding seized funds transferred 12,267 BTC, valued at approximately $1.01 billion, in a single transaction. Nearly all of the Bitcoin went to a new, unlabeled address.
The Bitcoin seizure originated from Ilya Lichtenstein, who orchestrated the Bitfinex hack, and his wife, Heather Morgan. The government seized roughly 94,000 BTC from the couple in 2022.
The Thursday transfer follows recent government movements of seized cryptocurrency. On Wednesday, government-linked wallets sent approximately $119 million in USDT and roughly 2,574 BTC to Coinbase Prime, a custody platform. In July, the government shifted $288 million in seized crypto to the same service. These transfers to custody providers do not necessarily indicate an intent to sell the assets.
According to Arkham's data, the Thursday outputs have already been spent, meaning the Bitcoin has moved again since the initial transfer.
The government's cryptocurrency movements come under a March 2025 executive order that directed forfeited Bitcoin into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve that would not be sold. The government currently holds approximately 306,795 BTC, worth roughly $24.85 billion based on Bitcoin trading near $81,000.
