A U.S. appeals court has concluded legal proceedings to officially confiscate 69,370 bitcoins and assorted cryptocurrencies from the now-defunct darknet marketplace Silk Road.
According to court filings on December 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has validated the transfer of Bitcoin into federal possession. This action follows a prior ruling that determined the government's ownership of digital assets linked to Silk Road's illicit activities.
Alongside Bitcoin, the seized assets encompass Bitcoin Gold (BTG), Bitcoin SV (BSV), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
The initial legal decision regarding Silk Road's Bitcoin was issued by a U.S. court in August. The U.S. Department of Justice had previously confiscated the cryptocurrency in 2020 and subsequently filed a motion for its formal seizure. At that time, the seized Bitcoins were valued at over $1 billion. The initial complaint from 2020 revealed that the U.S. government had taken control of the cryptocurrency, known as “Individual X,” who had already surrendered. This individual hacked into Silk Road and assumed control of its funds.
The Silk Road hacker as James Zhu. Chung, aged 32, who was sentenced to one year in federal prison in April. On July 12, a cryptocurrency wallet associated with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) conducted numerous transactions, transferring around 9,825.25 Bitcoins valued at approximately $299 million through Silk Road.
Cryptocurrency analysts closely monitor fund movements, as market participants frequently speculate on the potential impact of any large-scale sales by the U.S. government on Bitcoin prices. Silk Road, an infamous platform for trading drugs and weapons, was established and managed by Ross Ulbricht from 2011 to 2013. After Ulbricht's arrest in late 2013, the FBI shut down the site.
In 2022, Ulbricht agreed to utilize $3 billion worth of stolen Bitcoins to settle his debt to the U.S. government. Additionally, he relinquished his claim to 69,470 Bitcoins.
