Netflix announces new series inspired by Bitfinex hack involving 120,000 BTC

This Netflix documentary will document a New York-based couple and their connection to a money laundering operation involving nearly 120,000 BTC.

Streaming and production giant Netflix has announced that it will produce a documentary series about the infamous Bitfinex hack — one of the biggest financial crimes of 2016, when 119,756 bitcoins (BTC), worth $72 million at the time, were stolen.

The Netflix documentary will center on a New York-based couple about the laundering of nearly 120,000 bitcoins associated with them. According to Netflix, the documentary will be directed by American filmmaker Chris Smith, with Nick Bilton serving as co-executive producer. The announcement reads:

"Netflix has ordered a documentary series about a married couple's alleged scheme to launder billions of dollars' worth of stolen cryptocurrency in the largest financial crime case in history."

The plot is based on two main characters — Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan — a New York City-based couple who are involved in the theft of 120,000 BTC and are also suspected of money laundering.

As can be seen from data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, since the Bitfinex hack, the BTC price has surged more than 7,415% in just five years.

Netflix noted, “As the value of the stolen bitcoin soared from $71 million at the time of the hack to nearly $5 billion, the couple allegedly attempted to liquidate their digital currency and buy physical gold by creating fake identities and online accounts. , NFTs, etc — and investigators are eager to trace the movement of that money on the blockchain.”

Cointelegraph has previously tracked the movements of the stolen funds, the latest going back to as recently as February 1, 2022.

Cointelegraph recently interviewed an anonymous cyber vigilante who tracked down a group of decentralized finance (DeFi) scammers responsible for the $25 million StableMagnet run-off and eventually returned the stolen money to investors.