An Internal Revenue Service agent’s MacBook Pro that traced and seized 120,000 Bitcoin stolen from the crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016 is now in the collection of Washington, DC’s world-renowned Smithsonian.
“The laptop is the centerpiece of a criminal case that shows an evolving understanding of cryptocurrency,” Ellen Feingold, curator for the National Numismatic Collection (NNC), explained in a Nov. 18 article for Smithsonian Magazine.
The laptop was owned by former IRS Special Agent Chris Janczewski, who now heads global investigations at blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs. Janczewski helped discover the keys to the 120,000 Bitcoin BTC
$91,883 stolen from Bitfinex by Ilya Lichtenstein, who was sentenced to five years in jail for the hack earlier this month.
“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.”
Lichtenstein hacked Bitfinex while his wife Heather Morgan — also known by her rapper alter-ego “Razzlekhan” — later helped him launder the stolen Bitcoin. She was also sentenced earlier this month to 18 months in jail.
Chris Janczewski’s laptop to be displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Source: Smithsonian Magazine
“This landmark case was significant not only for the amount seized, but also because the perpetrators could be apprehended,” Feingold added.
The Department of Justice said in 2022 that the Bitcoin haul, then worth $3.6 Billion, was the agency’s “largest financial seizure ever.”
The idea of Janczewski’s laptop being featured in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History came from Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui, who wrote to NNC to raise awareness and note the significance of the Bitfinex case.
NNC documents how money has evolved from at least as far back as ancient Mesopotamia, with over 1.6 million items collected.
Feingold said it has been difficult to collect physical objects to document Bitcoin’s evolution due to its digital nature.
So far, NCC has collected a Bitcoin magazine, two physical Bitcoin tokens that had a hologram on the back containing private keys and two pieces of 3D-printed Bitcoin jewelry.
“With so many compelling historic objects in the collection’s vault, it is easy to overlook what is happening with money in the present.”
Feingold made her case for more Bitcoin-related items being featured in NCC, saying that Bitcoin “provided a compelling alternative” after many lost trust in banks and governments after the 2008 financial crisis.
Janczewski’s laptop will be on display in the National Museum of American History’s “The Value of Money” gallery, which is set to reopen in late 2024.
