A New York resident accused of being behind a 2016 hack that led to the loss of $4.5 billion worth of bitcoin on Bitfinex pleaded guilty on August 4.。Ilya Lichtenstein also pleaded guilty in federal court in Washington, D.C. to money laundering for stolen bitcoin。

According to CNBC, Lichtenstein pleaded guilty in front of his wife, Heather Rhiannon Morgan, who was also among the court's viewers.。Lichtens and Morgan were arrested last year on suspicion of money laundering for stealing $4.5 billion worth of cryptocurrencies from Bitfinex in 2016.。Lichtenstein is from Russia and has been in police custody since his arrest.。His wife and co-conspirator Morgan, an aspiring rapper also known as "Razzlekahn" or "Wall Street Gators," was released on $3 million bail after being arrested.。

Two weeks ago, The Financial Giant reported that the couple would undergo a plea hearing in Washington, D.C., by Senior Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelley on charges of conspiracy to launder money and defraud the United States.。At the time of the Bitfinex hack, Lichtenstein conspired with Morgan to launder 119,754 bitcoins worth an estimated $70 million, according to U.S. Justice Department officials.。When the two were arrested, the Justice Department seized 94,000 bitcoins worth $3.6 billion, the largest seizure in the department's history.。

Earlier, the Justice Department explained that about 25,000 of the stolen bitcoins were transferred from Lichtenstein's digital wallet through a sophisticated money laundering process, with some of the tokens eventually being deposited into the couple's account.。During the plea hearing, it was discovered that Lichtenstein had exchanged some of the allegedly stolen bitcoins for gold, which Morgan buried at a location now known to law enforcement agencies.。In addition, it was revealed that Lichtenstein traveled to Ukraine and Kazakhstan to launder money.。

Meanwhile, in May, a network of global investigative journalists claimed Bitfinex had never made the report public and claimed the exchange had encountered a security breach that led to the hack.。Bitfinex, however, dismissed the findings of the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).。