Bitfinex Recovers Stolen BTC With US Government Help
According to a recent report, a total of 27.7 bitcoin which was stolen by hackers in August 2016 has been recovered by Bitfinex. The company has also revealed that the coins which were valued at about $106,000 at the time the statement was being issued are a small fraction of the total BTC stolen. Federal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. recovered the bitcoin and returned it to Bitfinex.
Bitfinex Lost 120,000 BTC
Bitfinex was hacked in 2016 and lost 120,000BTC which is worth 72 million dollars. This was considered one of the biggest thefts from virtual currency exchange.
According to a statement released by the cryptocurrency exchange, it will be refunding over 5,000 of its customers that were affected by the theft in cash using the received bitcoin. The exchange which is the 17th largest exchange in the world and has a trading volume of $443 million said that it will convert the recovered BTC to dollars before distributing it to its clients.
While explaining how it recovered the BTC, the exchange revealed that it worked alongside the unnamed law enforcement agencies from both the U.S. and Europe in order to provide intelligence and assist with investigations. Bitfinex was informed of the recovery by the U.S government in November.
The Chief Financial Officer at Bitfinex, Giancarlo Devasini said that:
“Over two years following the hack of the Bitfinex platform, today we see the results of a clear and robust response strategy and the efforts of the U.S. government. It gives us great pleasure to be able to reimburse the traders that were loyal to us and believed in us at a very difficult time. We would like to thank U.S. federal law enforcement agencies for their ongoing efforts to investigate the security breach and their commitment to seizing and returning stolen assets.”
