Abstract:
- U.S. authorities offered over 9,000 Bitcoin forfeited by Ross Ulbricht within the Silk Highway case, a darknet market shut down in 2013.
- The federal government liquidated $216 million in BTC, paying round $215,000 in charges on March 14 per a court docket submitting.
- U.S. authorities plan to liquidate an extra 41,490 BTC in 4 trenches over the remainder of 2023.
The U.S. authorities liquidated 9,800 Bitcoin (BTC) forfeited by Ross Williams Ulbricht, the creator of the defunct darknet market web site Silk Highway opened in 2011. In keeping with court docket filings, authorities offered the 9,800 BTC for about $216 million on March 14. Authorities additionally paid roughly $215,000 in transaction charges.
Information from TradingView confirmed that BTC traded as excessive as 26,400 on that very same day.

Ulbricht forfeited almost 51,400 BTC in complete to the American authorities after his arrest in 2013. U.S. authorities now have about 41,490 Bitcoin after promoting 9,800 BTC in March 2023. The court docket submitting famous that the federal government plans to liquidate extra BTC all year long.
The U.S. authorities didn’t disclose particular liquidation intervals for its Silk Highway BTC bag. Nevertheless, the remainder of the forfeited Bitcoin shall be offered in 4 batches over the course of this calendar yr – 2023, the submitting disclosed.
It’s unclear if the BTC liquidation by U.S. authorities had any important implications on Bitcoin’s worth on March 14 or afterward.
Crypto’s main coin may expertise promoting strain between U.S. liquidations and Mt. Gox repayments anticipated to occur this fall. Notably, two of the most important Mt. Gox collectors selected an early fee in BTC, cushioning fears that the alternate shall be pressured to dump crypto for fiat to fulfill fee calls for.
51,000 Bitcoin Seized From Silk Highway, Ulbricht Sentenced To Life
Ross William Ulbricht created the Silk Highway darknet net market in 2011 that accepted digital funds in BTC. Later in 2013, Ulbricht was arrested for working a platform that facilitated cash laundering, narcotic gross sales, and different illegal providers.
U.S. authorities sentenced Ulbricht to life in jail. The silk highway darkish web site was additionally shut down and over 51,000 Bitcoin was forfeited by Ulbricht as a part of the case.