The United States Court of Appeals has finalized the forfeiture of 69,370 Bitcoin (BTC) linked to the now-defunct dark web marketplace, Silk Road. The judgment, initially passed in August of this year, officially came into effect on December 20, 2023.
This forfeiture involves one of the largest amounts of cryptocurrency seized, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin Gold (BTG), and Bitcoin SV (BSV). The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had initially seized the funds in 2020, valued at over $1 billion at that time.
Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road marketplace, was named the Respondent in the court filing. The funds, now valued at over $3 billion, are likely to be liquidated by the U.S. government, following the historical trend of selling off seized cryptocurrency assets.
This development underscores the government’s significant influence over the digital currency ecosystem and sets another precedent for large-scale forfeitures in the crypto space.
