Roughly $2 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) beforehand seized by United States authorities and related to the Silk Highway market has moved to a brand new handle.
In line with information from the blockchain on April 2, a pockets recognized to be related to the U.S. Justice Division made a 0.001 Bitcoin transaction to a Coinbase Prime handle — probably as a take a look at transaction. Shortly thereafter, the identical pockets transferred 30,174 BTC, or roughly $2 billion on the time of publication, to a brand new handle. On-line sleuths recognized the DOJ pockets as that containing Bitcoin seized from James Zhong, who in 2022 was convicted of charges related to “unlawfully obtained” crypto from Silk Highway.
Zhong stole greater than 50,000 BTC from Silk Highway in 2012. In 2021, U.S. authorities raided his property and found exhausting wallets containing Bitcoin, together with one “on a single-board laptop that was submerged below blankets in a popcorn tin.” The majority of the seized crypto was despatched to the identical handle that moved greater than 30,000 BTC on April 2.
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In March 2023, U.S. authorities authorities reported they had sold roughly 9,861 BTC of the crypto seized from Zhong for greater than $215 million, leaving roughly 40,000 BTC. The April 2 transaction adopted the price of Bitcoin dropping greater than 7% to achieve $65,475 on the time of publication.
The Silk Highway market, defunct for greater than ten years, allowed customers to purchase and promote illicit items, together with weapons, medication and stolen bank card data. U.S. authorities arrested its creator, Ross Ulbricht, in 2013. He’s serving two life sentences with out the potential for parole.
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It is a growing story, and additional data can be added because it turns into accessible.
