The bitcoins were seized from the Silk Road hackers. The government plans to sell the remaining bitcoins in batches throughout the year.
It looks like the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is finally moving the Bitcoin reserves seized from Silk Road. The notorious online marketplace, which was used primarily for illegal activities and used Bitcoin for transactions, was taken down by U.S. authorities in October 2013. Here’s what Wu Blockchain tweeted:
Breaking news: Silk Road BTC-related addresses suspected to be seized by the US Department of Justice are transferring more than 9k BTC.
The U.S. government previously sold 9,800 BTC on March 14 and said it plans to sell another 41,500 Silk Road-related BTC in four batches over the course of a year.
In November 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice seized more than 50,000 Bitcoins from the notorious Silk Road hacker James Chung. The transfer was noted by two addresses associated with the Department of Justice, while the rest of the Bitcoins remained unchanged. According to Wu Blockchain, the U.S. government plans to sell the remaining Bitcoins this year.
Transactions facing confirmation delays
The main reason these transactions are facing confirmation delays is due to the low transaction fees assigned by the Department of Justice. The DOJ has made two transactions with transaction fees totaling $8. According to court documents, the last time the government sold seized BTC, they paid over $215,000 in transaction fees. Interestingly, many have pointed out that by liquidating rather than holding Bitcoin, the government has missed out on $5.6 billion. As the practice of seizing cryptocurrencies from illegal activity becomes more common, the financial implications of how and when these assets are sold will become increasingly important. #荣耀时刻
