The Russian-U.S. national who hacked crypto exchange Bitfinex and stole nearly 120,000 bitcoin said he has been freed from prison early thanks to the bipartisan prison-reform law signed by President Donald Trump.
Ilya Lichtenstein, 38, had been sentenced in November 2024 to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a money laundering conspiracy charge and admitting to the hack of crypto assets now valued in the billions of dollars.
But late Thursday night, a post on Lichtenstein’s official X account declared, “Thanks to President Trump’s First Step Act, I have been released from prison early.”
“I remain committed to making a positive impact in cybersecurity as soon as I can,” Lichtenstein’s post said.
“To the supporters, thank you for everything. To the haters, I look forward to proving you wrong.”
