Before depositing to Bitfinex, screen your wallet for the sanctions and mixer exposure its compliance system flags; Plastron returns a free risk score across seven EVM chains, with no signup and no custody.

In August 2016, Bitfinex suffered a breach that resulted in the theft of approximately 119,756 BTC — worth around $72 million at the time and over $7 billion at peak Bitcoin prices. The stolen funds were largely held in dormant wallets for years until 2022, when US law enforcement seized over 94,000 BTC as part of the largest financial seizure in DOJ history. Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan were arrested for laundering the funds through a network of darknet market accounts, cryptocurrency exchanges, and decentralized finance protocols. The laundering operation involved hundreds of intermediate wallets, mixing services, and token conversions — all of which left traces on the blockchain. Wallets that interacted with exchanges or DeFi protocols where the Bitfinex funds were deposited during the laundering operation carry indirect exposure that remains detectable. Bitfinex itself runs blockchain analytics on deposits and applies compliance screening that is particularly attentive to known hack fund addresses, given their own history. Knowing whether your wallet has any historical connection to the 2016 funds is important before depositing.