- There are also transactions to unknown wallets
- In total, the authorities transferred over 50,000 BTC
The US government transferred more than 50,000 BTC seized from the Silk Road hacker to the Coinbase crypto exchange and unknown wallets. Blockchain analyst PieckShield reports this:
Recall that Silk Road was one of the most successful “black” platforms at the dawn of Bitcoin development in 2011. Various prohibited goods were actively sold here, including drugs and weapons. Thanks to the anonymity, BTC has become the only payment method for participants in transactions.
For years, the US has hunted down the organizers of Silk Road and frozen their assets. But the hacker James Zhong did the most successful job. In 2012, he managed to hack the Silk Road website and rob users’ bitcoin wallets. According to some reports, more than 3.5 thousand people became victims.
On November 9, 2021, American policemen raided the home of James Zhong. Authorities confiscated more than 50,000 BTC, which at that time was worth about $3.36 billion. In addition, law enforcement officers seized more than $600,000 in cash and precious metals. The man fully admitted his guilt. In 2022, detectives found several hundred more of Zhong’s bitcoins.
The founder of the anonymous marketplace Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, is now in prison. But he does not get bored and even arranges his own NFT auctions.
