“Thanks to Trump’s Law”: $4B Bitcoin Hacker Credits Regulations for Early Prison Release

Ilya Lichtenstein, who hacked crypto exchange Bitfinex and stole nearly 120,000 Bitcoin, said he has been freed from prison early. Lichtenstein said he was being released thanks to the First Step Act, the bipartisan prison-reform law signed by President Donald Trump.

Lichtenstein’s wife, Heather Morgan, who also pleaded guilty as part of the bitcoin laundering scheme, celebrated her husband’s apparent release.

The Russian-U.S. national who hacked crypto exchange Bitfinex and stole nearly 120,000 bitcoin said he has been freed from prison early thanks to the bipartisan prison-reform law signed by President Donald Trump.

Early Exit After 2024 Sentencing

Lichtenstein, 38, had been sentenced in November 2024 to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a money laundering conspiracy charge and admitting to the hack of crypto assets now valued in the billions of dollars.

But late Thursday night, a post on Lichtenstein’s official X account declared, “Thanks to President Trump’s First Step Act, I have been released from prison early.”

“I remain committed to making a positive impact in cybersecurity as soon as I can,” Lichtenstein’s post said. “To the supporters, thank you for everything. To the haters, I look forward to proving you wrong.”

Keep reading: Hackers Drain Hundreds of Crypto Wallets, Targeting Accounts Under $2,000: Report

According to CNBC, a Trump administration official told the publication that Lichtenstein “has served significant time on his sentence and is currently on home confinement consistent with statute and Bureau of Prisons policies.”

Trump Law at the Center

Lichtenstein’s wife, Heather Morgan — who also pleaded guilty to helping launder the stolen funds — shared Lichtenstein’s message on her own X account, saying, “The best New Years present I could get was finally having my husband home after 4 years of being apart.”

Morgan’s tweet, posted two minutes after Lichtenstein’s, included a photo of the couple smiling for a selfie. Lichtenstein’s sentence included credit for time he already served in custody following his arrest in 2022, more than five years after Bitfinex was hacked.

Lichtenstein was sentenced to five years in prison last year. In addition to the massive crypto heist, Lichtenstein was convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering and will face three years of supervised release after completing his prison term.

The sentencing comes after Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan, who also played a central role in the scheme, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Morgan’s sentencing is set for November 18.