Bitfinex hacker testifies in Bitcoin Fog trial as government witness

Convicted Bitfinex hacker Ilya Lichtenstein has turn into a key authorities witness in a jury trial involving the alleged operator of crypto mixer Bitcoin Fog Roman Sterlingov, Bloomberg Information reported on Feb. 27.

US prosecutors arrested and charged Sterlingov in April 2021 over allegations that the mixer helped launder 1.2 million BTC — price $335 million on the time — linked to illicit actions on the darkish internet.

He’s presently dealing with a jury trial over legal fees.

Prosecutors arrested Lichtenstein and his spouse, Heather Morgan, in February 2022. He was convicted of the theft after getting into a responsible plea in August 2023. The couple conspired to launder $4.5 billion in Bitcoin that they had stolen from the crypto change Bitfinex beginning in 2016.

Legal turned witness

In response to the report, Lichtenstein testified that he had used Bitcoin Fog roughly ten instances to launder a few of the stolen funds. Nonetheless, he finally stopped utilizing it in favor of a extra preferable mixer known as Helix.

Authorities shut down each mixers in 2021; Helix’s creator additionally pleaded responsible that yr.

Lichtenstein moreover testified that he didn’t use Bitcoin Fog and different coin mixers for many of his laundering actions. As an alternative, he usually deposited cash to crypto change accounts registered to identities he had bought on the darkish internet.

The Bitfinex hacker advised the jury that he had by no means communicated with Sterlingov straight and didn’t know him. His testimony additionally revealed the explanations behind his resolution to hack Bitfinex. Lichtenstein stated:

“On the time, my enterprise was struggling, and I used to be feeling very burnt out from it.”

Sterlingov faces a number of fees

A DOJ assertion signifies that Sterlingov faces a number of fees, together with cash laundering, working an unlicensed money-transmitting enterprise, and cash transmission and not using a license within the District of Columbia.

Sterlingov has vehemently denied these fees and claims innocence. His attorneys have argued that no laborious proof — comparable to eyewitness testimony or server logs — hyperlinks him to the crypto mixer.

As of Feb. 27, the trial is ongoing, and the jury has but to subject a verdict.