'Comedy rapper' charged in alleged Bitfinex hack

Heather Morgan, a 31-year-old New York resident, describes herself as many things: "Serial entrepreneur, prolific author, humorous rapper, investor in high-growth potential B2B software company."

But her LinkedIn bio does not mention her alleged ability to help launder cryptocurrency.

Yesterday morning, FBI agents arrested Morgan and her husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, for allegedly conspiring to launder cryptocurrency in connection with the 2016 Bitfinex hack, which resulted in the loss of 119,756 bitcoin (BTC) from the crypto exchange.

The pair vehemently asserted their innocence in court appearances in New York on Tuesday and were released on multimillion-dollar bond.

The 119,756 BTC stolen from Bitfinex in August 2016 was worth $72 million, but is now worth more than $5.1 billion. Since the 2016 hack, individuals associated with the stolen coins have regularly moved small amounts of BTC in separate transactions, while most of the funds remained untouched.

The DOJ reports that they have traced 25,000 of these bitcoins to financial accounts controlled by Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein. Agents obtained and seized more than 94,000 bitcoins, worth $3.6 billion at the time, from Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein after a search warrant allowed them to view documents containing the wallet's private keys.

According to the DOJ complaint, the couple was charged with money laundering and conspiracy to defraud, but they were not charged with the hacking. The first charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and the second carries a maximum penalty of five years.

WEIRD AF

While Lichtenstein may seem like your average tech entrepreneur, Morgan is so active on social media that you can find TikToks showcasing artwork inspired by her Synesthesia and her "WEIRD AF" music video.

You won't want to miss the stuff — including the line "I'm the grandmother you want to fuck" and Morgan, in his early 30s, singing Versace Bedouin while sitting in a bathtub full of glitter ). The question is, how does one go from being a rapper to being the focus of an FBI hacking investigation?

According to her LinkedIn, she started her career in Asia and the Middle East, including post-revolutionary Egypt following the Arab Spring.

When she returned to California and eventually moved to Silicon Valley, she "began immersing herself in the tech startup scene. In 2009, she started a B2B company called SalesFolk, which specialized in email.

While she didn't start her rap career until 2018, she's apparently been practicing her lines for a while. The company catchphrase "Be the goat, not the sheep!" strikes the right balance of absurdity and dark philosophical innuendo, and it's odd that it doesn't come directly from her song.

At the same time, she has had a number of bylined articles in business and technology publications, such as her December 2017 article "Should Your Company Be Worried About Being Blacklisted," and her June 2020 seemingly news Well-informed article, "Experts Share Tips for Protecting Your Business from Cybercriminals," both published in Forbes. She also wrote a long-form author profile for Inc Magazine.