Silk Road Crypto Sale: US Govt Sells 9,800 BTC, Aims to Offload 41,500 More

The US Government has sold 9,800 BTC, amounting to $215.7 million, from the historic seizure connected to the Silk Road dark web case, according to a recent court filing

In a recent court filing, the US Government revealed it sold 9,800 BTC on March 14 for a total of $215,738,154.98, with net proceeds amounting to $216 million.

This is part of the Bitcoin sum seized in November 2021 from James Zhong, who pled guilty to unlawfully obtaining over 50,000 Bitcoin from the Silk Road dark web in 2012.

The government aims to offload approximately 41,500 more BTC connected to the case.

The court filing outlined that the remaining Bitcoin is expected to be liquidated in four more batches throughout this calendar year.

The original seizure of approximately 50,676 Bitcoin from Zhong’s residence was valued at over $3.36 billion at the time, making it the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the history of the US Department of Justice.

Silk Road was an infamous online marketplace on the dark web, operating from 2011 until 2013. It facilitated the sale and purchase of illegal drugs, weapons, and other illicit goods and services.

The platform used Bitcoin as its primary currency, allowing users to conduct transactions with a high level of anonymity. In 2015, the platform’s founder, Ross Ulbricht, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison following a groundbreaking prosecution by the Southern District of New York.