U.S. Appeals Court Upholds Seizure of $1 Billion in Bitcoin Connected to Silk Road

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has upheld the forfeiture of 69,370 bitcoins, valued at more than $1 billion, that were previously associated with the notorious Silk Road dark web marketplace. This important ruling, which stems from proceedings that began in August, was recently implemented with a filing in the U.S. District Court.

The Silk Road, an underground online platform founded by Ross Ulbricht in 2011, operated until it was shut down by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2013. The platform gained notoriety for facilitating illegal transactions involving drugs and weapons. Ulbricht, who is currently serving a life sentence, agreed in 2022 to use $3 billion in stolen Bitcoin to settle his debt with the U.S. government and gave up ownership of 69,470 Bitcoins.

In 2020, the case took a significant turn when the U.S. Justice Department took possession of the cryptocurrencies, initiating the process for their official forfeiture. Just days before the final ruling, a Chinese journalist named WuBlockchain reported that 69,369 bitcoins had been moved from a dormant wallet that had not been used since 2015. WuBlockchain highlighted the involvement of Ulbricht, two claimants, and the U.S. government in the legal proceedings.

The cryptocurrency community is closely following the potential market impact of this substantial amount of Bitcoin, speculating on how a potential sale by the U.S. government could affect the price of the digital currency.

This legal decision represents a major milestone in the ongoing saga surrounding Ross Ulbricht and the Silk Road. It underscores the severe consequences of engaging in illegal activities with cryptocurrency and signifies a crucial moment in the development of regulatory oversight in the digital currency landscape.