$2B in Silk Road Bitcoin seized by DOJ to new wallet
Nearly $2 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) previously held by US authorities and linked to the Silk Road marketplace has been moved to a new address.
On April 2nd, data from the blockchain indicated that a wallet known to be linked to the US Department of Justice made a 0.001 BTC transaction to a Coinbase Prime address – possibly as a test transaction. Shortly thereafter, the same wallet transferred 30,174 BTC, or approximately $2 billion at the time of publication, to a new address. Online hackers have identified a DOJ wallet containing bitcoins seized from James Zhong, who was indicted in 2022 in connection with Silk Road's “illicitly obtained” crypto.
Zong in 2010 In 2012, he stole over 50,000 BTC from Silk Road. In 2021, US authorities raided his property and found hard wallets containing bitcoins, including “on a board computer buried in popcorn in a blanket.” Most of the seized crypto was sent to an address where more than 30,000 BTC was moved on April 2.
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In the year In March 2023, US government officials announced that they had sold approximately 9,861 BTC of the crypto seized from Zhong, leaving about 40,000 BTC for more than $215 million. The April 2nd trading saw Bitcoin's price drop more than 7% and hit $65,475 at press time.
The Silk Road marketplace, which has been around for more than 10 years, has allowed users to buy and sell illegal goods, including weapons, drugs and stolen credit card information. US authorities arrested its creator, Ross Ulbricht, in 2013. He was sentenced to two life terms without the possibility of parole.
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This is a developing story, and more information will be added as it becomes available.
