Summary
TLDR: Bitfinex hacker Ilya Lichtenstein testified against Bitcoin Fog in a US case, admitting to using the mixer to hide stolen funds. Regulators in the US and EU are cracking down on crypto-related money laundering, with recent actions against Ethereum mixer TornadoCash. Efforts to combat money laundering are increasing globally, with new regulations being implemented in various countries.
Key Points
1. Bitfinex hacker Ilya Lichtenstein testified as a government witness in a US case against crypto mixer Bitcoin Fog. This move is part of the ongoing crackdown by US and European Union regulators on crypto-related money laundering.
2. Lichtenstein used Bitcoin Fog to hide the trail of funds stolen from Bitfinex, but he found other services that served his purposes better due to the low quality of the mixer.
3. Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan were involved in laundering 119,574 BTC (approximately $4.5 billion) from Bitfinex after the exchange was hacked in 2016. They used crypto mixers to obfuscate the origin of the funds further.