Bitfinex Recovers $120,000 in Stolen Bitcoin Thanks to US Law Enforcement

US authorities recovered 28 bitcoins, worth over $120,000, which were stolen from cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex in 2016.

Although there are still 120,000 bitcoin still left to return, the action has been touted as a rare example of law enforcement successfully recovering stolen cryptocurrency.

According to the company's Medium post, Bitfinex received 27.66 bitcoins that were unlawfully taken in the August 2016 security breach from US law enforcement efforts.

The Bitfinex heist was one of the biggest thefts from a cryptocurrency exchange to date, with hackers making off with $72 million in bitcoin.

The solution: The exchange credited BFX tokens to all of its customers at a ratio of one BFX to one dollar lost, Bitfinex explained in a statement.

Bitfinex created a tradable Recovery Right Token for BFX holders that converted BFX tokens into shares of iFinex.

Following the news about the recovered funds, Bitfinex said that it will convert the returned bitcoin to dollars and distribute the cash to roughly 5,000 customers affected by the heist.

This would mean that each of the 5,000 users whose funds were stolen in 2016 will get just under $25. However, despite the large amount of media coverage Bitfinex received, there have been mixed reactions to the news.

Bitfinex celebrates the return of.02% of stolen coins two years after a massive theft as if they've solved world peace https://t.

Others praised the US law enforcement for the effort they put to track down the funds, no matter how minuscule.