The U.S. government may sell 69,000 bitcoins

The U.S. government is allowed to liquidate a total of 69,370 bitcoins seized from the now-defunct Silk Road marketplace.

The plaintiffs (Battle Born Investments Company, First 100, and 1st One Hundred Holdings) are attempting to suspend the enforcement of the judgment in this case.

They argue that this is necessary because they are filing another lawsuit aimed at forcing the U.S. Department of Justice to disclose the identity of 'Person X', an unknown hacker who helped to transfer the bitcoins stolen from Silk Road to the U.S. government.

This mysterious figure hacked into Silk Road over a decade ago, reportedly under threats from the imprisoned founder Ross Ulbricht.

Battle Born Investments Company and the other plaintiffs hope to rely on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to disclose the identity of this individual.

However, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ultimately ruled in favor of the government.

This ruling means the government can continue to liquidate the seized bitcoin wealth.

Such potential selling pressure could worsen the situation for bitcoin bulls who are currently struggling to regain momentum.

On Wednesday, the price of bitcoin fell to an intraday low of $92,938. The current trading price of the cryptocurrency is $94,312.