US government says Bitcoin seized from 2016 hack should be returned to Bitfinex

Key Takeaways

A court has ruled that 94,000 Bitcoin from the 2016 Bitfinex hack must be returned to the exchange.
The Bitcoin that was first seized was worth $3.6 billion and has been valued at over $9.3 billion.

A court has ruled that more than 94,000 Bitcoin seized from the 2016 Bitfinex exchange hack should be returned to Bitfinex and through “reset in kind,” according to a new filing shared with DB News.

As expected

* GOVT says bitcoin seized from 2016 BITFINEX HACK should be returned in kind

Are they just asking Paolo for the addy? https://t.co/8iwx6J1XR6 pic.twitter.com/ndNd1UrdWG

– db (@tier10k) January 15, 2025

Valued at $3.6 billion when seized by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2022, the Bitcoin stash was part of a haul of around 120,000 BTC stolen in a historic crypto exchange hack. At current market prices, these seized assets are worth about $9.3 billion, per CoinGecko.

According to s 2023 report from Chainalysis, US authorities, through a collaborative investigation involving the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations, initially recovered more than 94,000 BTC of stolen Bitcoin. After additional recovery efforts from August 2022 to January 2023, the total amount recovered increased to over 108,068 BTC as of June 2023.

Bitfinex said in July 2023 that it received $312,219 in cash and 6.917 BCH from the US Department of Homeland Security as part of ongoing recovery efforts. These funds will be used to redeem Recovery Right Tokens issued to holders after the ban.

The US government recognizes Bitfinex as a major victim

The latest report comes after the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia in October 2024 filed a legal motion. where it is stated Bitfinex might be the entity only relevant to restore from hack 2016.

The government requested permission to use other methods of notification to identify victims, although it believes that Bitfinex is likely to be the only eligible victim under the Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA) and the Act Mandatory Victim Rehabilitation.

“The government is not aware of anyone who qualifies as a victim under the CVRA or for reinstatement under the MVRA, beyond possibly Bitfinex, the Victim Virtual Currency Exchange,” the filing said.

This is a developing story.