Bitcoins returned to Bitfinex by U.S. Government

27.66270285 BTC have been retrieved from the August 2016 hack and distributed to RRT token holders.

Bitfinex are pleased to announce that 27.66270285 BTC that were unlawfully taken in the August 2016 security breach have been received by Bitfinex from the U.S. government as the result of U.S. law enforcement efforts.

Since the well documented hack in 2016, Bitfinex has collaborated with international law enforcement agencies to provide intelligence and assist with investigations. Bitfinex was alerted in November 2018 that the U.S. government had obtained bitcoins believed to be proceeds from the 2016 hack.

Bitfinex has now retrieved 27.7 BTC and, further to the recovery strategy outlined in the aftermath of the hack, this is being converted to USD and paid to RRT (Recovery Right Token) Holders.

RRTs and Bitfinex’s Hack Recovery Plan

Following the theft on August 2nd 2016, Bitfinex took a unique approach, generalising the losses across all accounts and crediting BFX tokens to customers at a ratio of 1 BFX to 1 dollar lost. Bitfinex honoured its commitment to repay the losses. Within eight months of the security breach, all BFX token holders had their tokens redeemed at 100 cents on the dollar or exchanged their tokens for, directly or indirectly, shares of the capital stock of iFinex Inc. All BFX tokens were destroyed within this process. Additionally, Bitfinex created a tradable Recovery Right Token (RRT) for BFX holders that converted BFX tokens into shares of iFinex.

The benefit to RRT holders is that in the event of any retrieval of the stolen property, and after any outstanding or unconverted BFX token holders have been reimbursed, recovered funds are distributed to RRT holders, up to 1 dollar per RRT. As all BFX tokens have been redeemed and destroyed, the full amount of recovered bitcoins today is being distributed pro rata to the RRT holders.

Giancarlo Devasini, Chief Financial Officer at Bitfinex: