U.S. plans to sell $130 million of Bitcoin seized in connection with Silk Road
The U.S. government previously seized the funds from a Xanax seller and a former U.S. agent.
The U.S. government has filed notice to sell $130 million of Bitcoin (BTC) previously seized connection with the Silk Road darknet marketplace.
The government said that it says that it intends to dispose of (ie. sell) two lots of Bitcoin in any manner that the U.S. Attorney general directs.
That will likely see the government sell both lots, including 2874.9 BTC valued at $129 million and 58.7 BTC valued at $3.3 million.
The text of the notice also allows for other individuals (except for defendants) to claim interest in the forfeited property through an ancillary petition within 60 days of Jan. 10. It also allows for petitions for remission or mitigation, which would pardon some or all of the seized Bitcoin from the forfeiture.
BTC belonged to Xanax seller and U.S. agent
The Bitcoin previously belonged two individuals. The first lot was seized from Ryan Farace , a Maryland man who along with his father was convicted of a money laundering conspiracy involving darknet market sales of Xanax, and from Sean Bridges , a former U.S. Secret Service Special Agent involved in Silk Road investigations who stole Bitcoin that the U.S. government had previously obtained. The second, smaller lot was seized solely from Bridges.
The two lots were seized on Feb. 10, 2021 in Memphis, Tennessee, and on May 11, 2021, in Arlington, Virginia, respectively. A District Court in Maryland previously condemned and forfeited the Bitcoin to the U.S. government on Jan. 8, 2024.
Those funds make up just a small portion of Silk Road-related seizures that the U.S. government has made to date. In addition to early seizures from Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht circa 2013, the government seized $3.6 billion of Bitcoin from James Zhong in 2022 as well as $1 billion of Bitcoin circa 2020.
As of December 2023, the U.S. government held about $9 billion worth of Bitcoin, though this did not exclusively originate from Silk Road seizures.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
Decoding VitaDAO: A Paradigm Revolution in Decentralized Science

Mars Morning News | ETH returns to $3,000, extreme fear sentiment has passed
The Federal Reserve's Beige Book shows little change in U.S. economic activity, with increasing divergence in the consumer market. JPMorgan predicts a Fed rate cut in December. Nasdaq has applied to increase the position limit for BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF options. ETH has returned to $3,000, signaling a recovery in market sentiment. Hyperliquid has sparked controversy due to a token symbol change. Binance faces a $1 billion terrorism-related lawsuit. Securitize has received EU approval to operate a tokenization trading system. The Tether CEO responded to S&P's credit rating downgrade. Large Bitcoin holders are increasing deposits to exchanges. Summary generated by Mars AI. The accuracy and completeness of this summary are still being iteratively improved by the Mars AI model.

The central bank sets a major tone on stablecoins for the first time—where will the market go next?
The People's Bank of China held a meeting to crack down on virtual currency trading and speculation, clearly defining stablecoins as a form of virtual currency with risks of illegal financial activities, and emphasized the continued prohibition of all virtual currency-related businesses.

