Unus Sed Leo (LEO) skyrocketed by 54% Tuesday night as federal authorities seized a hoard of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) connected to a 2016 hack of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange.
| Time-frame | % Change (+/-) |
|---|---|
| 24-hour | 53.8% |
| 24-hour against Bitcoin | 51.9% |
| 24-hour against Ethereum | 53.7% |
| 7-day | 67.1% |
| 30-day | 98.5% |
|
YTD performance |
95.55% |
See Also: How To Buy Bitcoin (BTC)
Why It’s Moving? On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice seized $4.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency from a couple in Manhattan.
The duo — Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and Heather Morgan, 31— are accused of having conspired to launder 119,754 BTC, worth $5.26 billion, stolen from Bitfinex.
Bitfinex said it was “pleased” that the DOJ have announced the recovery and said it has been cooperating with them since the investigation began.
We’ve been cooperating with DOJ since its investigation began and appreciate the dedication and hard work by the DOJ team that led to this great success. Learn more https://t.co/RAlgJO0ggN
— Bitfinex (@bitfinex) February 8, 2022
Bitfinex said, if it receives the recovery of the stolen Bitcoin, it will use an amount equal to 80% of the net recovered funds to repurchase and burn outstanding UNUS SED LEO tokens, within 18 months.
“These token repurchases can be accomplished in open market transactions or by acquiring UNUS SED LEO in over-the-counter trades, including directly trading bitcoin for UNUS SED LEO,” Bitfinex said in a statement.
Coin burning involves sending cryptocurrency to a wallet that can only receive such an asset and results in effective removal of coins from circulating thus increasing scarcity.
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Photo: Via Bitfinex
