Overview
- A Trump administration official confirmed Lichtenstein is on home confinement, while federal inmate records still list a February 9, 2026 release date.
- Lichtenstein pleaded guilty to money‑laundering conspiracy, admitted he was the Bitfinex hacker, and received a five‑year sentence in November 2024 with credit for time served since his 2022 arrest.
- The First Step Act enables transfers to pre‑release custody through earned credits, which prosecutors and court records say Lichtenstein qualified for as a non‑violent offender who completed programs and cooperated.
- Authorities recovered roughly 94,000 of the 119,754 BTC stolen in 2016, and prosecutors have moved to return those coins to Bitfinex, with about 25,000 BTC still unrecovered.
- Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan, sentenced to 18 months, was released early in October 2025, as both she and Lichtenstein publicly thanked Trump against the backdrop of crypto‑related pardons for figures including Ross Ulbricht, BitMEX cofounders and Binance’s Changpeng Zhao.