A US appeals court confirmed the forfeiture of 69,370 bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies associated with the Silk Road dark web marketplace in a ruling issued on Wednesday. The original August decision was upheld by the United States District Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
The Silk Road creator, Ross Ulbricht, two claimants, and the US government as the plaintiff are all named in the court filing. The government obtained the crypto from “Individual X” and has now completed the forfeiture procedure.
This action strengthens the government’s grip on the confiscated digital assets associated with the notorious dark web marketplace. The US government has been selling bitcoins seized from the Silk Road all year.
Ross Ulbricht is currently serving a life sentence for founding and operating Silk Road from 2011 to 2013. After Ulbricht’s arrest in 2013, the FBI shut down the dark web platform, which facilitated the illegal sale of weapons and drugs.
Ulbricht settled his obligations with the US government in 2022 by agreeing to hand over stolen bitcoins worth $3 billion. He agreed to give up ownership of 69,470 bitcoins as part of the settlement.
Recently, a wallet holding exactly 69,369 bitcoins saw its first transfer since 2015, which piqued investors’ interest in whether the government will keep or sell the seized bitcoins.
