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Bitfinex Bitcoin Money Launderer Accused Granted Permission To ‘Engage In Legitimate Employment’

Accused Bitfinex Bitcoin Money Launderer Granted Permission to 'Engage in Legitimate Employment'

On February 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested a couple that is accused of laundering 94,636 bitcoins stolen from Bitfinex in 2016. According to the DOJ, Ilya Lichtenstein, a tech entrepreneur, and Heather Morgan conspired in order to launder bitcoins worth billions of dollars. The duo could face 25 years in federal prison if convicted. Five months later, a report indicates that a federal judge has given Morgan permission to get a job and “engage in legitimate employment.”

Former Forbes Author Heather Morgan was granted pre-Trial Release to allow her to work

Heather Morgan, one of the accused Bitfinex money launderers, will be allowed to get a traditional job after a judge granted the former tech writer at Forbes the ability to work while her legal case continues. Morgan, who also performed as a New York street rapper called “Razzlekhan” or the “Crocodile of Wall Street,” is accused of an “alleged conspiracy to launder” 94,636 bitcoins which are currently worth $1. 95 billion using current BTC exchange rates. Morgan and her husband were arrested early this year, and the bitcoins stemming from the 2016 Bitfinex hack were once worth $4.5 billion.

Accused Bitfinex Bitcoin Money Launderer Granted Permission to Find
The two accused Bitfinex bitcoin money launderers Heather Rhiannon Morgan, 31 (pictured left), and her husband Ilya Lichtenstein, 34 (pictured on the right. )

This week a Bloomberg report indicates that a federal judge has given Morgan permission to work amid her pre-trial release. While crimes like murder and burglary have a very low probability of obtaining pre-trial release, statistics show that offenses that involve conspiracy to launder and fraud accusations have an 82% chance of acquiring pre-trial release for specific engagements like attending a funeral or engaging in employment. Morgan, a former tech author and rapper, has been allowed to apply for “legitimate employment “.

The infamous 2016 Bitfinex hack was close to six years ago, when the exchange lost 119,754 BTC at 10: 26 a.m. (ET) that year on August 2. As soon as the 2016 Bitfinex hack news spread, the price of bitcoin dropped 22% against the U.S. dollar during the 24-hour period that followed the heist. It is assumed that the Bitfinex hackers were able to access the Bitfinex server for weeks before the crypto assets were stolen, as reports say the attackers searched for private keys. The Bitfinex heist has been a mystery for close to six years. It was also up until five months ago. Onchain sleuths watched the coins and monitored their movements on the blockchain.

US Law Enforcement Agent Claims 2017 Alphabay Transactions Allegedly Connected to Lichtenstein and Morgan

During the first few months, the stolen Bitfinex bitcoins remained idle, but suddenly started moving in January 2017. It is believed that the coins were mixed using BTC tumbling services, and then were sent to the now defunct Alphabay darknet marketplace (DNM). On a few occasions after that, the 119,754 stolen bitcoins were transferred to unknown BTC wallets, but most of the transfers were sent in fractions. Then on February 1, 2022, 94,636 BTC from the 2016 hack were consolidated into a single address, and at the time no one knew why the BTC consolidation occurred. It wasn’t until a week later that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) notified the public that law enforcement seized the 94,636 BTC.

Accused Bitfinex Bitcoin Money Launderer Granted Permission to 'Engage in Legitimate Employment'
Heather Rhiannon Morgan used to work for Forbes as a tech writer and was also a New York-based street rapper that used the stage names “Razzlekhan” and the “Crocodile of Wall Street.”

The DOJ disclosed that a married couple, Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, were arrested for an “alleged conspiracy to launder” the stolen Bitfinex BTC. An afr.com report further claims that the BTC sent to the Alphabay DNM was somehow connected to the arrest of Lichtenstein and Morgan years later. The law enforcement agent who made this connection refused to give details about when or how it was found that they were connected.

While Morgan was granted permission to seek “legitimate employment”, Lichtenstein and her alleged story have received a lot of media attention over the past five months. For instance, almost immediately after the couple’s arrest, the streaming media firm Netflix revealed it had “ordered a documentary series about a married couple’s alleged scheme to launder billions of dollars worth of stolen cryptocurrency in the biggest criminal financial crime case in history.”

What do you think about the federal judge giving Heather Morgan permission to work while her money laundering legal case proceeds? Please comment below to let us know your thoughts on this topic.

Jamie Redman

Jamie Redman, the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News, is a Florida-based financial journalist. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. Redman is passionate about Bitcoin, open-source codes, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 5,700 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. This article is not intended to be a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any products or services. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. The author and the company are not responsible for any loss or damage resulting from or in connection to the content, goods, or services discussed in this article.

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Analyst: Solana to Reclaim $200, Many New Crypto ATHs Soon

In his latest social media posts, Daniel Cheung, co-founder of Syncracy Capital, expressed confidence in the strength of solana (SOL) and its potential to reclaim the $200 mark. He also hinted that upcoming upgrades could pave the way for new all-time highs (ATHs). Cheung also shared his bullish outlook on bitcoin (BTC…
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NeuroMesh: Spearheading the New Era of AI with a Distributed Training Protocol

London, United Kingdom, April 9th, 2024, Chainwire NeuroMesh (nmesh.io), a trailblazer in artificial intelligence, announces the rollout of its distributed AI training protocol, poised to revolutionize global access and collaboration in AI development. Embracing DePIN’s decentralized framework, NeuroMesh bridges the gaps between the demand for training large AI models and distributed GPUs. This initiative aims…


London, United Kingdom, April 9th, 2024, Chainwire

NeuroMesh (nmesh.io), a trailblazer in artificial intelligence, announces the rollout of its distributed AI training protocol, poised to revolutionize global access and collaboration in AI development. Embracing DePIN’s decentralized framework, NeuroMesh bridges the gaps between the demand for training large AI models and distributed GPUs. This initiative aims to foster inclusivity in AI development, facilitating participation across diverse sectors and geographies.

Visionaries in AI: The team’s global ambition

The team behind NeuroMesh, composed of researchers and engineers from Oxford, NTU, PKU, THU, HKU, Google, and Meta, pioneers a democratic AI training process. This visionary approach addresses the limitations of centralized AI development by enabling GPU owners worldwide to contribute to a vast training network, empowering entities of all sizes to leverage this service for their training needs.

NeuroMesh transcends traditional AI by fostering collaboration. Their vision is to equip every developer and organization, regardless of location or resources, with the ability to train and utilize cutting-edge AI models. This aligns perfectly with the vision of AI pioneers like Yann LeCun, who advocate for a future powered by crowdsourced and distributed AI training.

A revolutionary design based on PCN

At the heart of NeuroMesh’s distributed training protocol lies the groundbreaking PCN (Predictive Coding Network) training algorithm – a true game-changer in this field. This approach empowers GPU owners worldwide to contribute their power, fostering a vast collaborative effort.

The PCN Training Algorithm: The magic behind NeuroMesh lies in the PCN training algorithm. Unlike traditional backpropagation (BP) methods, PCN enables fully local, parallel, and autonomous training. The team aims to create a vast network, where each node—representing a participating GPU—learns independently. PCN minimizes inter-layer communication, reducing data traffic and facilitating asynchronous training. Think of it as a symphony where each musician plays their part independently, yet contributes to a harmonious whole.

This cutting-edge model, inspired by recent advancements in neuroscience research pioneered by Oxford University, mimics the human brain’s localized learning approach. By storing error values and optimizing for a local target in each layer, it replicates the behavior of brain neurons. This allows NeuroMesh to define models that are much larger, with individual components that contribute to the same ultimate optimization objective for the whole network, just like the human brain where different stimuli are handled by different groups of neurons.

This biologically-inspired approach, combined with its inherent distribution capabilities, unlocks a new era of AI development.

A call to forge global partnerships

NeuroMesh invites partnerships globally, aiming to forge an AI future that everyone can participate in. Its protocol is the bedrock upon which a diverse ecosystem is being built. The ecosystem is designed to be dynamic, collaborative, and adaptable, ensuring that it can serve the AI model training needs of any size, from any industry.

Individuals, projects with GPU resources, and entities with training needs are all welcome to join this transformative initiative. For comprehensive details on NeuroMesh and to participate in this leading-edge endeavor, users can visit nmesh.io.

About NeuroMesh

NeuroMesh comprises researchers and engineers from esteemed institutions such as Oxford, NTU, PKU, THU, HKU, Google and Meta. By empowering developers and organizations to deploy robust AI models, NeuroMesh is cultivating an inclusive AI ecosystem, bridging the gaps between the demand of training large AI models and distributed GPUs worldwide.

For more information, users can visit NeuroMesh’s

Contact

CMO


Kenchia Lee


NeuroMesh


[email protected]


07746906341


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BlackRock’s IBIT nears $20 billion in assets as Bitcoin eyes new ATH

BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) is near $20 billion in assets, currently in top 3% among all ETFs. IBIT and FBTC have recorded 59 days of inflows – a streak that puts the two among top 20 ETFs. Meanwhile, Bitcoin price could hit a new all-time high amid spot ETF and halving sentiment. BlackRock’s spot…


  • BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) is near $20 billion in assets, currently in top 3% among all ETFs.
  • IBIT and FBTC have recorded 59 days of inflows – a streak that puts the two among top 20 ETFs.
  • Meanwhile, Bitcoin price could hit a new all-time high amid spot ETF and halving sentiment.

BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) continues to outshine peers as inflows surge.

Data also shows that IBIT is not just in the top 20 in terms of longest consecutive streak of inflows, but its also climbing the ranks for total assets.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas shared these details on Monday. He noted that BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF has inched to within the top 3% among all ETFs for total assets held.

According to the analyst, IBIT is closer to hitting the $20 billion mark in assets, a feat that could coincide with a new all-time high for Bitcoin.

BlackRock’s IBIT leads peers

BlackRock, the world’s leading asset manager recently updated its list of Authorised Participants (APs) to include banking and investment giants Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Citadel and UBS among others.

As at the time of his post on X, IBIT assets under management totaled $18.96 billion and ranked 88th overall.

It means the new spot Bitcoin ETF currently sits above some of the oldest ETFs in the market. Those IBIT has surpassed include the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM), the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), the iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ), and the iShares TIPS Bond ETF (TIP).

$IBIT is nearing $20b in assets, curr 88th spot among all ETFs, which puts it in Top 3%. It just passed a bunch of veterans incl $EEM, $EWJ, $SMH and $TIP pic.twitter.com/IgmuHpFlKb

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) April 8, 2024

Earlier in the day, Balchunas had noted that BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC ETFs “have now taken cash for 59 straight days.”

That means the two ETFs are trending in the top 20 all-time charts, the hot streak putting these ETFs in a league of their own compared to other newly launched ETFs or those on an active streak.

MOVIN ON UP: $IBIT and $FBTC have now taken cash for 59 straight days and are now in the Top 20 all-time. (That said they in league of own when it comes to active streaks or streaks for newborns) via ⁦@thetrinianalystpic.twitter.com/3cdYorXjOT

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) April 8, 2024

Bitcoin price eyeing new all-time high

The ongoing pace for spot Bitcoin ETFs, which the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved in January this year, has helped push Bitcoin price higher.

On Monday, BTC rose to above $72,600. Although its trading around $71,900 at the time of writing, bullish sentiment could see the benchmark crypto hit a new all-time above the peak reached in mid-March.

According to data from CoinGecko, Bitcoin’s current all-time high of $73,737 was reached on March 14, 2024. Analysts predict a post-halving explosion for Bitcoin price. 


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