“The US hacker pleaded guilty to stealing and laundering nearly 120,000 bitcoins from cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex in 2016.”, — write: www.coindesk.com
“Thanks to the President [Donald] Trump’s First Step Act, I have been released from prison early,” Lichtenstein said on X on Thursday. “I remain committed to making a positive impact in cybersecurity as soon as I can.”
Trump signed the First Step Act, a prison and sentencing reform bill proposed and approved by legislators in 2018, purportedly aimed at saving taxpayers money.
Lichtenstein thanked his supporters and criticized his “haters,” writing, “I look forward to proving you wrong,” while reiterating that he “remains committed to making a positive impact in cybersecurity.”
While some congratulated Lichtenstein on X, others were less forgiving. An onchain investigator who goes by Specter on X posted a meme saying “crime is legal”, while CB32 asked “how much did you pay?” And Cryptoenthusiast asked, “Where’s the 120,000 stolen from Bitfinex?”
Lichtenstein and his wife, rapper Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan, were arrested in February 2022. Morgan received an 18-month sentence and was released in October after serving roughly eight months.
The Bitfinex hack in August 2016 resulted in the theft of 119,754 BTC, worth approximately $71 million at the time, but more than $10 billion at current prices. Authorities recovered about 94,000 BTC, and in January 2025, US prosecutors filed a motion for the recovered BTC to be returned to Bitfinex.
Lichtenstein pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy charge and admitted to the hack of crypto assets. He also claimed his wife had nothing to do with the crime. He managed to convert about 25,000 BTC into other cryptocurrencies and into physical gold coins, the majority of which the US government recovered, according to a TRM report.
Lichtenstein’s release comes as President Trump’s use of executive clemency in crypto-related cases has drawn criticism, although Lichtenstein himself was not pardoned. Between January and October, Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, Arthur Hayes and three other BitMex exchange cofounders convicted of Bank Secrecy Act violations, and Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who had pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering at the world’s largest exchange.
KuCoin captured a record share of centralized exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the broader crypto market.
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per monthmarking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralized exchange volumeas KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumeswhich slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly spliteach exceeding $500 billion for the year, signaling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activityreinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activityindicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
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After major technical gains in 2025, Buterin says the network must double down on usability and decentralization to meet its original goals.
- Vitalik Buterin says Ethereum made significant technical progress in 2025 but still falls short of its broader mission.
- He pushes back against short-term crypto narratives in favor of durable, censorship-resistant applications.
- The message reframes Ethereum as long-term internet infrastructure rather than a platform chasing market trends.
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