Silk Road’s mandate officially approved by US court
The U.S. Court of Appeals has granted permission to seize cryptocurrencies linked to the darknet platform Silk Road. The decision, which was made on December 20th, allows for the confiscation of 69,370 Bitcoins (BTC) and other digital currencies as part of the Silk Road case. The defendants in the case include Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and the U.S. government as the plaintiffs.
Although the decision was initially made in August, it only takes effect following the ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals. According to the original complaint, the U.S. government gained control of the cryptocurrency after it was transferred by a hacker known as “Individual X,” who had breached Silk Road and obtained access to its funds.
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice seized the cryptocurrency, which is valued at over $1 billion (more than $3 billion at current rates), and began the process of seeking formal confiscation. Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, was arrested on October 2, 2013, and was subsequently sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years without parole in 2015.
The confiscation of these Bitcoins makes the U.S. government one of the largest holders of BTC, owning approximately 195,000 BTC, which accounts for almost 1% of the total supply. The majority of the assets held by the government have been confiscated from cybercriminals.
These funds are stored offline in hardware wallets and are under the control of the Department of Justice (DoJ), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and other agencies. When a government agency seizes control of a cryptocurrency, it does not immediately become U.S. property. Instead, the court issues a confiscation order, the government takes ownership, and then transfers the asset to the U.S. Marshals Service, which subsequently sells it and converts it into fiat currency.
Source: 21.co
