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Join WhatsApp channelAccording to blockchain data, it appears that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is transferring a significant amount of seized Bitcoin (BTC) associated with Silk Road, the now-defunct darknet marketplace created by Ross Ulbricht in 2011.
The government has previously announced its intention to sell the Bitcoin related to Silk Road over the course of the year. The recent transfers could indicate that it plans to sell more of the seized BTC in the near future.
In a tweet shared by Wu Blockchain on Wednesday, it was revealed that two Bitcoin (BTC) addresses associated with Silk Road and suspected to have been seized by the Justice Department have transferred a total of 9,825 BTC within the past 24 hours. The first address moved approximately 825 BTC, while the second address moved around 9,000 BTC.
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Back in March, these wallets were active as well, with the second wallet sending over 9,800 BTC to Coinbase, where it was eventually sold. Currently, both addresses hold no BTC, while the remaining approximately 30,174 BTC from Silk Road is still held in a third address, which has not seen any recent activity.
The 9,825 BTC moved on Wednesday are currently valued at $300 million, representing an increase of around 50% in value since September 7. It was on that day when the Justice Department announced the seizure of 51,351 BTC. Alongside the seizure, the DOJ indicted James Zhong for hacking Silk Road in 2012 and creating nine accounts to conceal his identity and trigger the release of all Bitcoin from the marketplace.
On March 14, 2023, the government made an announcement that it had sold 9,861 BTC at an average price of $21,877. However, this revelation drew mockery from many within the crypto community. The reason being that Bitcoin’s price had already surged by approximately 25% since the actual sale, and the government had paid a hefty $215,000 in transaction fees alone.
It’s worth noting that the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) largest financial seizure, apart from the Silk Road case, is connected to another crypto hack. In early 2022, authorities claimed 119,754 BTC related to the 2016 Bitfinex hack, which was valued at $3.6 billion at that time.
