Laptop used to seize Bitcoins from 2016 Bitfinex heist now at the Smithsonian

[nullama]

Article: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/a-federal-agents-laptop-held-the-keys-to-seize-36-billion-in-stolen-bitcoin-heres-how-it-ended-up-at-the-smithsonian-180985485/
Podcast version: https://www.si.edu/sidedoor/bitcoin-bank-heist

In 2016 Bitfinex was hacked, and about 120k Bitcoins were stolen.

A hacker responsible for stealing 119,754 Bitcoin in a 2016 hack on the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange was sentenced to five years in prison by U.S. authorities.

The man, Ilya Lichtenstein, was arrested in February 2022 in Manhattan following a lengthy investigation led by the IRS, HSI, and the FBI, which managed to recover roughly 80% of the stolen cryptocurrency (94,000 Bitcoin)

At the time of the theft, the 119,754 bitcoins were worth $78,000,000 but equaled $3.6 billion at the time of the seizure.

They were able to seize the Bitcoins because they ended up having access to their computer, where he had the key to most of the stolen Bitcoin:

IRS-CI Special Agent Chris Janczewski, working closely with Department of Homeland Security investigators and prosecutors from the Department of Justice, traced the stolen Bitcoins. He treated the blockchain as a digital crime scene that eventually allowed him to identify the suspected perpetrators, search their home and seize their digital files onto his laptop. Within the tranche of seized files, Janczewski discovered the digital keys to the majority of the Bitcoins stolen from Bitfinex, enabling him and his law enforcement colleagues to seize funds worth approximately $3.6 billion, as valued at the time of the seizure in February 2022, and arrest Lichtenstein and Morgan. Today, those funds are valued at about $8.6 billion.

It is not clear from the article if the keys found were encrypted with a password or not, but eventually the Federal agent's laptop was used to access the Bitcoins with this seized key. It is this laptop that was acquired by the Smithsonian to be showcased in their exhibition called "The Value of Money”:



You can have a look at the exhibition either in person, or online: https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/value-money/online

[Lucius]

It's a bit strange for something like this to show up in a museum, and I wonder how it even found its way there. Besides, the device itself doesn't represent anything special to me, because what matters are those who used that same device - although the whole situation is very strange considering the sentences imposed, which are really ridiculous, and the fact that the whole thing was swept under the carpet under the pretext of national security.

In a documentary that is shown on a popular streaming platform, the agent who found the private keys claims that they were encrypted (although he does not want to reveal how they managed to get to them), and there are many more interesting details that point to the conclusion that these two, who are considered the main culprits are not really the only ones responsible for the hacking.

[DudeAtWork420]

I think this hack could be amongst the greatest hacks of all time as the volume involved  is something that could be worth sharing as a story or an event that took place in the past hence the laptop was taken to the museum to be kept for public view. It could attract tourist to that country and museum to see for themselves and also avail them the opportunity to be able to know elaborately the story behind the laptop, why it found its way to the museum and the names behind the laptop.

[BIT-BENDER]

I think this hack could be amongst the greatest hacks of all time as the volume involved  is something that could be worth sharing as a story or an event that took place in the past hence the laptop was taken to the museum to be kept for public view. It could attract tourist to that country and museum to see for themselves and also avail them the opportunity to be able to know elaborately the story behind the laptop, why it found its way to the museum and the names behind the laptop.

I don't see how tourists would be interested in going to see the laptop. Like what are the significant of the laptop being in the museum? The story is well documented and everyone can assess the information from their devices they don't need to fly all the way to be told the story. Yes the figures involved here are huge but this won't be the first high fund heist and I believe we won't want every heist story be put in a museum.

[hd49728]

I don't see how tourists would be interested in going to see the laptop. Like what are the significant of the laptop being in the museum? The story is well documented and everyone can assess the information from their devices they don't need to fly all the way to be told the story. Yes the figures involved here are huge but this won't be the first high fund heist and I believe we won't want every heist story be put in a museum.

Now there is little reasons but in future, there will be more reasons for doing such visit. When Bitcoin becomes something bigger, and as one of most successful innovations in human history. People will have more reasons to visit historic places, museums, watch things that are parts of Bitcoin history.

Curiosity is key trigger for their actions but it is possible because people even can risk their life to visit Titanic. Visit a Bitcoin Museum is more simple, less risky and dangerous, so if they are near the museum by chance, they will not hesitate for a quick trip to explore Bitcoin history.

[Fiatless]

I think this hack could be amongst the greatest hacks of all time as the volume involved  is something that could be worth sharing as a story or an event that took place in the past hence the laptop was taken to the museum to be kept for public view. It could attract tourist to that country and museum to see for themselves and also avail them the opportunity to be able to know elaborately the story behind the laptop, why it found its way to the museum and the names behind the laptop.

I don't see how tourists would be interested in going to see the laptop. Like what are the significant of the laptop being in the museum? The story is well documented and everyone can assess the information from their devices they don't need to fly all the way to be told the story. Yes the figures involved here are huge but this won't be the first high fund heist and I believe we won't want every heist story be put in a museum.

This exhibition, which opened at the National Museum of American History in 2015, examines the origins of money, new monetary technologies, the political and cultural messages money conveys, numismatic art and design, and the practice of collecting money. The Value of Money features hundreds of objects from our national money collection representing every inhabited continent and spanning more than 3,000 years.
https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/value-money/online

The museum contains other historical artifacts that will interest tourists. One might not need to fly from maybe Africa to see this laptop, but if you are around the US. It could be an interesting sight for crypto enthusiasts.

Students could also visit this important place for school trips and the museum tour guides could tell them about the hacks. Some of them will become aware of these threats and learn about security. I am a student of history and will want to see many things preserved for the next generation because the past and presents helps to shape the future.    

[nullama]

~snip~
I don't see how tourists would be interested in going to see the laptop. Like what are the significant of the laptop being in the museum? The story is well documented and everyone can assess the information from their devices they don't need to fly all the way to be told the story. Yes the figures involved here are huge but this won't be the first high fund heist and I believe we won't want every heist story be put in a museum.

This is partly explained in the article...

They want to showcase Bitcoin, but usually they find it difficult to display physical things about it, because of course everything about Bitcoin is digital, so it's tricky to display Bitcoin in a museum.

I guess by using this item, a laptop, they can tell the story of how Bitcoin works, and how the heist and everything else happened.

[rodskee]

It's a bit strange for something like this to show up in a museum, and I wonder how it even found its way there. Besides, the device itself doesn't represent anything special to me, because what matters are those who used that same device -

yeah it might appear silly that something as mundane as a macbook is sitting on a museum for people to visit and see however you can also think of the irony in that

it shows that there is no need for fancy and complicated devices if you know what you are doing you can basically steal anything and in this case it’s thousands of dollars this could be compared to maybe weapons being displayed used for something historical

however they could have instead made something more creative rather than just letting the laptop be at the center of attention the laptop in itself isn’t even harmful

regardless i get what they are trying to do maybe the execution wasn’t just the best

[pakhitheboss]

yeah it might appear silly that something as mundane as a macbook is sitting on a museum for people to visit and see however you can also think of the irony in that

What is so silly about it? If Justin Sun can buy a Banana art for millions of dollars and then eat that Banana in front of the media, I think this laptop might get auctioned sometime in the future. It could be a crowd puller you never know in these times of internet connectivity. 

it shows that there is no need for fancy and complicated devices if you know what you are doing you can basically steal anything and in this case it’s thousands of dollars this could be compared to maybe weapons being displayed used for something historical

In 2016 the hacker was using a Macbook Pro, it was considered a good laptop device till today the newer versions are not that cheap or bad. It is been 8 years now the security firewalls on exchanges were not that good at that time considering the fact this device was good for hacking. Apart from that what we see in movies as big or multiple stations are not seen in real life.

[BIT-BENDER]

~snip~
I don't see how tourists would be interested in going to see the laptop. Like what are the significant of the laptop being in the museum? The story is well documented and everyone can assess the information from their devices they don't need to fly all the way to be told the story. Yes the figures involved here are huge but this won't be the first high fund heist and I believe we won't want every heist story be put in a museum.

This is partly explained in the article...

They want to showcase Bitcoin, but usually they find it difficult to display physical things about it, because of course everything about Bitcoin is digital, so it's tricky to display Bitcoin in a museum.

I guess by using this item, a laptop, they can tell the story of how Bitcoin works, and how the heist and everything else happened.

I don't think that's promoting Bitcoin. You say they want to show case Bitcoin I would take that as trying show Bitcoin to the public but in a very negative way.
I won't say they are trying to showcase Bitcoin but rather they are trying to showcase the event that happened but still I don't think the event is so extraordinary or so worthy to be in the museum.
Heists has been happening long even before Bitcoin and I can say that won't even be the last time so I don't see the significant of this one being in a museum.

[jaberwock]

I think this hack could be amongst the greatest hacks of all time as the volume involved  is something that could be worth sharing as a story or an event that took place in the past hence the laptop was taken to the museum to be kept for public view. It could attract tourist to that country and museum to see for themselves and also avail them the opportunity to be able to know elaborately the story behind the laptop, why it found its way to the museum and the names behind the laptop.

I won't say 'greatest' because after all, a hacking is still a crime and not something to be proud of. Maybe it is much better to say one of the 'biggest' (if there are still bigger than it). Even though it is a hack, it is still part of the history of BTC and I think history is not always about positive things and that makes the story of someone or something more interesting/inspiring. Even though we can also see the laptop online but the feeling or experience is different if we see it in a real world.

So yeah, it could magnet tourists. This is a big help to the economy of the country. For those who aren't yet into Bitcoin, this can also be a way for them to get involved with it, if in case they saw that laptop and know its story by accident.

[nullama]

~snip~
In 2016 the hacker was using a Macbook Pro, it was considered a good laptop device till today the newer versions are not that cheap or bad. It is been 8 years now the security firewalls on exchanges were not that good at that time considering the fact this device was good for hacking. Apart from that what we see in movies as big or multiple stations are not seen in real life.

The laptop showcased in the museum is actually from the federal agent.

There doesn't seem to be an explanation about how the hack was done.

Basically the laptop's claim to fame is that it had temporary access to the keys to a massive amount of bitcoins, seized from the hacker.

I don't think they explain how the keys were actually obtained or if they were encrypted with a password. They simply say the laptop had the keys momentarily.

I think it is worthwhile to showcase an item like this, as it is an historical artifact, even though the item itself is not remarkable.

This reminds me of Stanley, the first autonomous car that won the 2005 DARPA challenge, as it was showcased at the Computer History Museum.



At the museum you just see car basically, but the history behind it is fascinating.