Financial news

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has facilitated the return of digital assets that were stolen in 2016 from the digital asset trading platform Bitfinex.

Bitfinex announced that it has now received $312,219.71 in cash and 6.917 BCH (Bitcoin Cash) from DHS. The recovery is part of Bitfinex’s ongoing efforts, working with law enforcement and other investigation agencies, to recover assets stolen from the exchange in August 2016.

The attack saw over 119,000 bitcoins stolen from the exchange. Bitfinex immediately reimbursed affected users for every dollar it has lost.

It also introduced the creation of ‘Recovery Right Tokens’ (RRT), which enable users to receive recovered funds at a conversion rate of $1 per RRT. The newest development sees holders of the RRT having their tokens redeemed pro rata, based on the size of their RRT holdings on 6 July 2023.

Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at Bitfinex, said: “We are extremely pleased to be able to reach another successful milestone in the recovery of assets stolen from Bitfinex in 2016.

“This specific seizure demonstrates the commitment of law enforcement officials to diligently track all the proceeds of the crime committed against Bitfinex almost seven years ago. We look forward to recovering as much of the stolen bitcoin as we possibly can and redistributing that to holders of the tokens that were issued in response to the hack in 2016.”

Bitfinez also explained that there are currently 30 million RRTs in circulation, meaning the amount recovered is not sufficient to redeem all RRT tokens.

All RRT holders must be redeemed at $1, following which up to 80 per cent of any remaining recovered assets will be paid to UNUS SED LEO token holders.

The digital asset trading platform plans to continue its work with relevant law enforcement agencies and work through the judicial system to recover property stolen from the exchange during the security breach.