PANews reported on November 20 that the National Museum of American History has included a 2019 MacBook Pro laptop in its national currency collection, according to Smithsonian Magazine. The laptop was a key tool in the largest cryptocurrency seizure case in U.S. history, helping to recover about $3.6 billion worth of stolen Bitcoin. The incident revealed an important turning point in the development of cryptocurrency from anonymity to traceability.
In 2016, hacker Ilya Lichtenstein hacked into the Bitfinex exchange and stole nearly 120,000 bitcoins, worth about $70 million at the time. He conspired with his wife Heather Morgan to launder the funds. IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent Chris Janczewski used blockchain technology to track the stolen bitcoins and found key digital keys on his laptop, eventually seizing $3.6 billion worth of funds and arresting the suspect. Today, the funds have increased in value to about $8.6 billion.
At present, this notebook has been placed in the "Value of Currency" exhibition hall, where it is exhibited together with historical currency forms such as shells, gold, silver, and banknotes, showing the continuous evolution of human society's definition of value.
