A U.S. appeals court has completed legal proceedings over the seizure of 69,370 Bitcoins from Silk Road, a darknet market that is now out of service.
According to court documents, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision to transfer Bitcoin to federal control. This enforcement action complements a previous ruling that affirmed the government’s rights over digital assets related to Silk Road’s illegal activities.
In addition to Bitcoin, the seized Bitcoin assets also include Bitcoin Gold (BTG), Bitcoin SV (BSV), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
Seizure of illegal Silk Road assets
The original verdict on Silk Road Bitcoin was released in August. It stems from the U.S. Department of Justice’s seizure of these cryptocurrencies in 2020 and its motion to formally dispose of them. At the time, the value of seized Bitcoins exceeded $1 billion.
The move came as 69,369 Bitcoins were transferred from one wallet address, marking the first significant activity for these assets since 2015. The conduct attracted significant attention because it involved funds traceable to Silk Road, a platform notorious for the illicit trade in drugs and other illicit items.
Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, is named as a defendant in the filing. The site was shut down by the FBI after Ulbricht was arrested in late 2013. In 2015, Ulbricht was sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole plus 40 years.
US Government: One of the largest Bitcoin holders
The U.S. government has become one of the largest Bitcoin holders through seizures related to criminal activity. As with the Silk Road case, these seized digital assets are securely stored in offline, encrypted hardware wallets. These agencies are administered by multiple federal agencies, such as the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
However, because the legal process is complex and lengthy and the government is not active in trading or timing the market, the actual liquidation process could take years. In legal proceedings, governments hold Bitcoin as evidence of a crime or as proceeds. #丝绸之路 #比特币
