The US plans to sell $130 million worth of Bitcoin seized in connection with Silk Road

The US government has requested the sale of $130 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) previously seized in connection with the darknet marketplace Silk Road.

The government said it intends to dispose of (i.e. sell) two batches of Bitcoin by any means ordered by the U.S. Attorney General.

This will likely result in the government selling both lots, including 2874.9 BTC worth $129 million and 58.7 BTC worth $3.3 million.

The language of the notice also provides that other persons (other than defendants) may claim interest on the forfeited property through a supplemental petition within 60 days of January 10. Additionally, applications for remission or mitigation are possible, which would provide for a partial or complete pardon of the seized Bitcoin from forfeiture.

BTC belonged to the Xanax seller and US agent

The Bitcoin previously belonged to two people. The first lot was seized from Ryan Farace, a Maryland man who was convicted along with his father of a money laundering conspiracy related to Xanax sales on the dark web, and by Sean Bridges, a former US Secret Service special agent who was involved in Silk Road investigations and stole Bitcoin that the US government had previously received. The second, smaller property was confiscated solely from Bridges.

The two properties were seized on February 10, 2021 in Memphis, Tennessee and on May 11, 2021 in Arlington, Virginia, respectively. A district court in Maryland had already condemned Bitcoin on January 8, 2024 and forfeited it to the US government.

These funds represent only a small portion of the Silk Road-related seizures the U.S. government has made to date. In addition to the early seizures of Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht in 2013, the government seized $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin from James Zhong in 2022 and $1 billion worth of Bitcoin in 2020.

As of December 2023, the US government had approximately $9 billion worth of Bitcoin, although this did not come entirely from Silk Road seizures.

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