--- title: "Feds Arrest Crypto CEO for Bitcoin Laundering, But Her Real Crime Was Against Rap Music" description: "It's 2022, so naturally, the feds have brought down a Bitcoin-laundering power couple — one half of whom is a crypto wallet CEO who is also an extremely bad rapper." date: "2022-02-08" modified: "2022-02-08" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/crypto-laundering-ceo-rapper" categories: - "Bitcoin" - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" tags: - "bitcoin" - "cryptocurrency" - "hacking" --- # Feds Arrest Crypto CEO for Bitcoin Laundering, But Her Real Crime Was Against Rap Music ![It's 2022, so naturally, the feds have brought down a Bitcoin-laundering power couple — one half of whom is a crypto wallet CEO who is also an extremely bad rapper.]() *\Image: Razzlekhan\* It's 2022, so naturally, the feds have brought down a Bitcoin-laundering power couple — one half of whom is a crypto wallet CEO who is also an extremely bad rapper. Heather Morgan and Ilya "Dutch" Lichtenstein were arrested by federal agents on Tuesday for allegedly laundering $4.5 billion in Bitcoin that was stolen during a 2016 hack. In [its affidavit](), the Department of Justice claimed that the spouses used some of the stolen funds, $3.6 billion of which has been recovered, to buy non-fungible tokens (NFTs), because of course they did. The salacious details of the couple's alleged crimes are definitely exciting — up to and including the lengths they allegedly went to to obscure their identities online while laundering the Bitcoin — but the aspect of this story that's perhaps the most outrageous has nothing to do with blockchain. As [*The Daily Beast* points out](), Morgan, the CEO of the Endpass Ethereum wallet company, the [website of which is currently down](), also moonlights as a rapper under the name "[Razzlekhan]()." And a perusal of her YouTube page shows just how atrocious her "raps" really are. Take, for instance, her music video for "Versace Bedouin." Ignoring the extreme likelihood that Morgan isn't a member of the [nomadic]() [Bedouin people]() and therefore probably shouldn't be referring to herself as one, the song is a horrific affront to music of all kinds, nevermind hip hop. She enunciates like [Chantal from "Search Party]()," constantly crams too many words into each line, drops the cringiest rhymes imaginable, and even calls herself a "badass money maker." "The infamous Crocodile of Wall Street strikes again!" reads her website, with its mid-2010s nebula-themed background. "More fearless and more shameless than ever before, she's taking on everyone from big software companies to healthcare to finance bros." In [her *Forbes* bio]() — yes, she was also a *Forbes* contributor — Morgan describes herself as an "expert in persuasion, social engineering, and game theory." Even more hilariously, the bio claims that "when she's not reverse-engineering black markets to think of better ways to combat fraud and cybercrime, \[Morgan\] enjoys rapping and designing streetwear fashion." It's deliciously ironic that a crypto CEO who claimed to be against cyber crime apparently took part in the allegations laid out by the DOJ — which worked together with the IRS and the FBI to arrest the couple — which include the claim that they "employed numerous sophisticated laundering techniques, including using fictitious identities to set up online accounts." There's obviously much more to this story than meets the eye, but after playing "Versace Bedouin," we've heard enough. **READ MORE:** [Wild Hipster Couple Accused in $4.5 Billion Crypto Crime]() \[*The Daily Beast*\] **More on crypto scams:** [*NFT Marketplace Admits That 90 Percent of Its NFTs Are Spams, Scams and Fraud*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()