SCANDALBATCH S11AD-INTELLIGENCE / SAAS

MixRank

Co-founder Ilya Lichtenstein pleaded guilty in 2023 to executing the 2016 Bitfinex hack — 119,754 BTC, ~$10B at recovery. Sentenced to 5 years.

$1.5M+

Capital Raised

15+ YRS

Lifespan

119,754 BTC stolen (~$10B at recovery) · 5-year sentence

Body Count

AUTOPSY REPORT

MixRank was a YC S11 ad-intelligence/data-crawling startup backed by Mark Cuban. Co-founder Ilya Lichtenstein left the company in late 2016. In February 2022, Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan (the rapper 'Razzlekhan') were arrested for laundering $4.5B in stolen Bitcoin — and in August 2023 he admitted under oath that he was the original Bitfinex hacker who stole 119,754 BTC in 2016 . Sentenced 2024 to 5 years; received early release January 2026. The hack was committed during his MixRank tenure but not as MixRank's founder. The case is documented as the largest US financial seizure in history. (Caveat: Lichtenstein's MixRank co-founder Scott Milliken is unconnected to the hack and continued running the company.)

DAMAGE: 119,754 BTC stolen (~$10B at recovery) · 5-year sentence

TIMELINE

2011MixRank founded; joins YC S11 (Lichtenstein co-founder)

2016-08Bitfinex hack: 119,754 BTC stolen

2016-Q4Lichtenstein exits MixRank

2022-02FBI arrests Lichtenstein and Morgan for $4.5B laundering

2023-08Lichtenstein guilty plea + admission of original hack

2024Sentenced to 5 years

2026-01Early release

SOURCES

→ CNBC: Bitfinex Hacker Razzlekhan Case → TRM Labs: Lichtenstein Sentenced — $10B Recovery → YC directory: MixRank

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Satirical project. Not affiliated with Y Combinator. All information from public records.