Court materials on hacking of Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange will be classified

According to a new ruling signed by a district court judge, the case of laundering bitcoins stolen by hackers from Bitfinex involves classified information. Heather Morgan, better known as Razzlekhan, is accused of laundering billions of stolen BTC with her husband, Ilya Lichtenstein.

The district court judge signed a court order in the case, stating that it concerns «secret information on national security issues» and therefore only those with security clearance can have access to the court materials.

«The court finds that this case will involve classified national security information, the storage, processing and control of which, according to the law, requires special security measures, and access to which requires a security clearance and a justification for the need for this clearance,» the ruling said.

Heather Morgan and her husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, are accused of laundering stolen weapons and military equipment. The Bitfinex digital currency exchange service was hacked in August 2016, which at the time was the second largest hack of a bitcoin exchange platform. 119,756 BTC were stolen, which at the time were worth about $ 72 million. In February 2022, the U.S. government confiscated about 94,000 of the stolen BTC thanks to the decryption of a file belonging to Ilya Lichtenstein. The file contained addresses and necessary keys. The value of the confiscated items was estimated at $ 3.6 billion.