US Government Transfers $300 Million Worth of Seized Silk Road Bitcoins

On July 12, 2023, onchain knowledge reveals the U.S. authorities transferred 9,800 bitcoins (BTC), price simply over $300 million. These bitcoins initially got here from James Zhong’s Silk Road hack. In March, the Department of Justice additionally moved an analogous quantity of bitcoins related to Silk Road.

Silk Road Bitcoin Stash Controlled by the Feds Moves, Funds Reportedly Sent to Coinbase

About 9,800 BTC from Silk Road was moved in two transactions on Wednesday, reportedly despatched to wallets managed by Coinbase. At the time of writing, the funds held by the U.S. authorities are price $302 million, primarily based on the day’s BTC alternate charges.

The bitcoins got here from James Zhong, the convicted Silk Road hacker. At the time of his arrest, federal authorities seized about 51,351.89785803 bitcoins on three separate events, together with a set of treasured metals and $661,900 in money.

🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔
8999.90799037 #BTC despatched by #US_DEPARTMENT_OF_JUSTICE (Seizure – James Zhong Via Silk Road Exploit)
🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔

️ https://t.co/r4wif5icol

— OXTObserver (@OXTObserver) July 12, 2023

Last March, the federal government offered 9,861 bitcoins for simply over $200 million. The onchain exercise 4 months prior was additionally detected by onchain observers and blockchain parsers. It’s speculated that every one the BTC transferred from Zhong’s stash has been offered on Coinbase.

The promoting via Coinbase is uncommon because the U.S. authorities sometimes auctions off BTC with help from the U.S. Marshals. For instance, bitcoins seized from Ross Ulbricht within the Silk Road case have been auctioned, with buyers like Tim Draper buying among the cash. Only lately has the federal government began transferring cryptocurrency to identify exchanges.

What do you consider the feds sending a big stash of bitcoin on Wednesday? Share your ideas and opinions about this topic within the feedback part under.