Our weekly updates are put together by folks deep in the crypto scene, giving you a clear picture of what's happening without overwhelming you.
To Watch This Week
AIRDROPS + ALPHAOct 17, 2024
Law and Order
Bitfinex Hacker Deserves 5-Year Sentence for Laundering $8 Billion in Stolen Bitcoin: DOJ
The hacker behind the $8 billion Bitfinex exchange attack of 2016 should spend five years in prison, according to U.S. prosecutors. Bitfinex hacker Ilya Lichtenstein used his "significant technical skills," as the U.S. District Court put it, to launder the digital funds with his wife as co-conspirator. Both pleaded guilty last year. The DOJ has already suggested that his wife, Heather “Razzlekahn” Morgan, the self-proclaimed "Crocodile of Wall Street," spend 18 months in prison for her role in l...
Mar 15, 2024
Markets
El Salvador Bitcoin Treasury Is a Lot Bigger Than We Thought
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele posted a not at all subtle flex on X yesterday, saying his administration moved a "big chunk" of its Bitcoin treasury into a cold wallet and planned to lock it away in a vault. The screenshot he shared showed that the wallet had 5,689 Bitcoin in it—worth $406 million when he took the screenshot. That means the Bitcoin price would have been approximately $71,463 when Bukele moved the funds, which lines up with when the wallet made its first transaction on Tuesda...
Aug 3, 2023
Business
Bitfinex Hacker Revealed: Razzlekhan's Husband Admits He Stole Billions in Bitcoin
Ilya Lichtenstein, who last month agreed to forfeit billions in a plea deal for his role in laundering funds from a 2016 hack of crypto exchange Bitfinex, has now admitted he was the hacker. Although it has long been suspected either Lichtenstein or his wife, Heather Morgan, were the ones who stole 120,900 Bitcoin, it's only now been confirmed. The new detail was originally reported by CNBC on Thursday. The couple appeared at a sentencing hearing today in Washington D.C. Bitfinex Hackers Agree...
Jul 21, 2023
Business
Bitfinex Hackers Agree to Forfeit Billions in Bitcoin in Plea Deal
The couple charged with laundering $4.5 billion in cryptocurrency and conspiracy to defraud the United States through a 2016 hack of crypto exchange Bitfinex have reached a plea deal, according to court documents Friday morning. As part of the plea deal, the couple has agreed to forfeit proceeds from the almost 120,000 Bitcoin they stand accused of laundering. Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan, both of whom were arrested early last year, are set to appear before a judge on August 3rd...
Mar 6, 2023
Business
Babel Finance Mulls New Token Launch to Repay Creditors
Babel Finance, the Hong Kong-based crypto lending platform, plans to introduce a decentralized stablecoin that will be used to repay the firm’s creditors, according to a Bloomberg report. The firm's restructuring efforts are helmed by Babel co-founder Yang Zhou, who is now the company’s sole director, and revolve around a decentralized finance (DeFi) project called “Babel Recovery Coins.” It's pitched as a dual token ecosystem with a fully reserved stablecoin HOPE and another token called Light...
Oct 25, 2022
Markets
Bitfinex Beat Binance, Coinbase for Bitcoin-Pound Trading Volume Last Month
The British pound’s recent volatility may be encouraging many investors to try their hand at crypto trading if findings from a recent report from Kaiko are to be believed. Bitcoin trading volumes reportedly surged on UK markets last month as traders may have looked to take advantage of high exchange rate volatility. The pound has lost a significant amount of its value in recent months, hitting an all-time low against the U.S. Dollar on September 26. Many have attributed this trend to the tax cut...
Oct 14, 2022
Business
Bitfinex 'Pleased' With Law Firm Roche Freedman's Removal From Class Action
Crypto exchange Bitfinex said it's pleased with a judge's decision to remove law firm Roche Freedman from the class action lawsuit that alleges it and stablecoin issuer Tether committed fraud and market manipulation. "We are pleased with the court’s thorough and well-reasoned decision to remove Roche Freedman LLP as interim class counsel," a Bitfinex spokesperson told Decrypt in an email. "Roche Freedman’s repeated attempts to trivialize and separate itself from Kyle Roche’s despicable statement...
Aug 24, 2022
Business
Heather ‘Razzlekhan’ Morgan Breaks Twitter Silence, Denying Links to Crypto, NFT Space
Following six months of radio silence, alleged Bitcoin launderer Heather “Razzlekahn” Morgan has declared that she no longer has any involvement in cryptocurrencies or nonfungible tokens (NFTs). In her first tweet since February 6 this year, Morgan stated with an unequivocal belief that “any crypto or NFT project bearing my name or likeness is a scam that I do not endorse.” I am not involved in any crypto project. Any crypto or NFT project bearing my name or likeness is a scam that I do not en...
Aug 23, 2022
Business
Bitfinex Preps for Merge Eventualities, Offering Ethereum 'Chain Split Tokens'
Ethereum’s transition from a proof-of-work consensus (PoW) protocol to the 99.95% greener and more scalable proof-of-stake (PoS) protocol is almost here, but there are still unanswered questions about what will happen next. The most notable of which asks: Will Ethereum’s current miners fork the network onto a separate blockchain that continues to use PoW? Crypto exchange Bitfinex is prepared for all eventualities. Today, it announced the launch of the so-called Ethereum Chain Split Tokens (CST)...
Feb 9, 2022
Markets
Bitfinex’s LEO Token Hits All-Time High Following DOJ Seizure of $3.6B in Bitcoin
Bitfinex's UNUS SED LEO token (LEO) exploded to a new all-time high of $8.14 on Tuesday, shortly after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it had seized 94,000 Bitcoin stolen in an August 2016 Bitfinex hack. The price of LEO has pulled back slightly since then, with the token currently changing hands around $7.37, according to CoinGecko. This still represents a massive increase of over 50% over the last 24 hours, with over 80% of the last day's trading volume happening on FTX and, of...