Ilya Lichtenstein, the Russian-American hacker who stole nearly 120,000 bitcoin from crypto exchange Bitfinex, has been released from prison early, after serving just over a year.
His exit from federal custody was made possible through the First Step Act, a prison reform law signed by Donald Trump during his first term in office.
The news broke Thursday night after Ilya posted the announcement himself on X, saying, “Thanks to President Trump’s First Step Act, I have been released from prison early.”
Ilya had been sentenced in November 2024 to five years behind bars. That came after he pleaded guilty to helping move billions of dollars in stolen crypto and confessed to the Bitfinex hack, which at current market prices totals more than $4 billion.
His prison term factored in time already served after his 2022 arrest, giving him credit that slashed down his time inside.
Trump’s First Step Act reduces sentences and puts crypto offenders on home confinement
The First Step Act, passed in December 2018, was introduced as a bipartisan attempt to reduce the size of the U.S. federal prison system. It allowed inmates to earn early release or home confinement if they met certain behavior requirements and were deemed low risk under a federal assessment system.
Ilya appears to have qualified, and as of Friday morning, a federal inmate search showed him set for official release on February 9.
According to CNBC, a Trump administration official confirmed that Ilya “has served significant time on his sentence and is currently on home confinement consistent with statute and Bureau of Prisons policies.”
Heather Morgan, Ilya’s wife, also confirmed his early return in her own X post, two minutes after his, writing that,“The best New Years present I could get was finally having my husband home after 4 years of being apart,” and attached a photo of them smiling together.
The best New Years present I could get was finally having my husband home after 4 years of being apart. 💜🙏🪬 https://t.co/toUJ0Bz70h pic.twitter.com/plsnktmJ5l
— Heather "Razzlekhan" Morgan (@HeatherReyhan) January 2, 2026
Heather had pleaded guilty alongside Ilya in the same case for helping launder the stolen funds and was sentenced to 18 months in February 2025, only to announce her early release in October.
In a video posted on October 26, Heather appeared in a bathtub wearing just a towel and addressed her followers: “Why hello Razzlers, I have missed you,” using her rap alias, Razzlekhan. She ended with a nod to Trump: “It is very good to be back, and I want to give a shout out to Papa Trump for making my 18-month sentence shorter.”
The timing of his release lines up with the White House’s expanded use of the law in 2025 under Trump’s second term.
On his first day back in office, Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road founder who had been serving a life sentence. Then, in October, he pardoned Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, the founder of Binance. CZ had pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering on the platform.
Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free.
