PANews reported on December 19 that according to CoinDesk, the Bitfinex hacker made his first public statement since his arrest. Ilya Lichtenstein reiterated that he had stolen 120,000 bitcoins alone and denied the speculation in the Netflix documentary that "his father was an accomplice and may belong to a Russian spy agency." This is his first public statement since his arrest in 2022.
Lichtenstein atones for his crimes in court and says he plans to pursue a career fighting cybercrime after serving his sentence. In a video on Tuesday, Lichtenstein reiterated that commitment: "After I get out of prison... I plan to work in the cybersecurity industry; I know the cyber threats we face and how to stop them."
A restitution hearing is scheduled for February next year to determine whether the assets should be distributed to Bitfinex or customers affected by the hack. Samson Enzer, an attorney at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP, said: "With the significant help of Lichtenstein, the government recovered nearly all of the assets stolen during the 2016 Bitfinex hack. In total, approximately 114,601 bitcoins (96% of the approximately 119,754 bitcoins stolen in the hack) were recovered, as well as 29 additional assets of considerable value."
