“I learned my lesson”. In a statement from the depths of his prison, Ilya Lichtenstein confesses to his crimes and takes full responsibility for the Bitfinex hack. He appears marked and sincere in his remarks and he maintains that neither his wife nor his father participated in any way. the theft of 120,000 bitcoins. It cannot be said that he decided to record this statement himself or on the advice of his defense, but it has the merit of existing. Take a look back at the confessions of the Bitfinex hacker as if you were there.
- Ilya Lichtenstein admitted his responsibility in the Bitfinex hack, exonerating his wife and father.
- He has pledged to repay the stolen assets and wants to rehabilitate himself by working in cybersecurity after his release.
Bitfinex hacker confesses everything and asks for forgiveness for all of his actions
Ilya Lichtenstein begins these five minutes of video in front of the camera by admitting that everything we have heard about him is true. Yes, he hacked Bitfinex and yes, he stole tens of thousands of bitcoins. He is very sorry about all this and he apologizes to everyone for what he did and particularly to the Bitfinex teams. For a long time, he continues, he made too many selfish decisions and even though he knew what he was doing was wrong, he did it anyway.
For what ? Because he mocks of everything. After taking a look at the paper he is reading, he admits that looking back on the past, he hates the person he was. The repentant hacker cannot change the past, but he now wants to work to do good and try to repair your mistakes. This is why for three years he has been working hard to repay all the assets possible and he will continue to do so until he has raised 10 billion dollars. He also hopes to have finished in the first quarter of next year.
Then, he will make a clarification that he wants to be as clear as possible: he is the one who planned the hack. Alone. And it is up to him to take full responsibility for everything that happened, he says. Certainly his wife pleaded guilty to having laundered a small part of the stolen funds, but he assures him, his wife is only a victim of more of his bad decisions.
He claims he acted alone and that neither his wife nor his father participated in the theft of thousands of bitcoins
He will even repeat twice that « Razzlekhan » is not the hacker Bitfinex ! “Razzlekhan” being the artist name of his femme. Likewise, all allegations regarding his father are false and completely absurd. No, he did not participate and he does not even know how to use Instagram, Mr. Lichtenstein admits. Besides, his father was very shocked and very saddened when he heard the news of his crime. No one apart from him is responsible for the hacking and we don't need to take his word for it since everything is written in black and white in the court report.
Besides, why on earth would he take the risk of involving anyone else in a flight so dangerous ? Believe me, I am more than capable of carrying out such a hack on my own and I don't need anyone, he finally declared. My days as a pirate are over and many years in federal prison will help me change. Besides, I can now assure you: I learned the lesson. Finally, he has particular skills that he wishes to put to the benefit of the industry. cybersecuritybecause with all the time he spent on the Darkwebwho better than him could help the authorities?
When I am released, probably in a year, I would like to dedicate my life to computer cybersecurity, he concludes. Finally, he hopes that the next time we hear from him, it will be for something much more positive. We take note and we make an appointment with him in a year when he gets out of prison.
