WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Tuesday its largest-ever financial seizure — more than $3.5 billion — and the arrests of a New York couple accused of conspiring to launder billions of dollars in cryptocurrency stolen from the 2016 hack of a virtual currency exchange.

Federal law enforcement officials said they recovered roughly $3.6 billon in cryptocurrency linked to the hack of Bitfinex, a virtual currency exchange whose systems were breached nearly six years ago.

Ilya Lichtenstein, a citizen of Russia and the United States, and his wife, Heather Morgan, were arrested Tuesday in Manhattan, accused of relying on various sophisticated techniques to launder the stolen money and conceal the transactions.

They face federal charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

It was unclear if they had lawyers or people who could speak on their behalf.

They were in custody pending an appearance in Manhattan’s federal court.

The stolen cryptocurrency, valued at $71 million at the time of the theft, is now valued at $4.5 billion, officials said.

The couple were not charged in the Bitfinex hack, which resulted in theft of almost than 120,000 bitcoin.

However, prosecutors said they received stolen bitcoin into a digital wallet they controlled and used money-laundering techniques such as setting up accounts with fictitious identities.

Millions of dollars were cashed out through bitcoin ATMs and used to purchase gold and non-fungible tokens as well as more mundane items like gift cards for personal expenses, prosecutors said.