According to Blockworks, the US government controls about 200,000 BTC, which is equivalent to $8.4 billion.
Less than three months ago, this amount was $5 billion, but since then the price of Bitcoin has risen significantly.
207,189 BTC confiscated between 2020 and 2022 are associated with the darknet marketplace Silk Road, hacker James Zhong and Bitfinex exchange hackers. Less than 5% (9861 BTC) of these funds were sold in March last year.
“The transactions brought in $215 million at an average price of $21,800 per bitcoin, which is half the current value,” Blockworks experts noted.
Court documents indicate an intention to sell the remainder of the coins seized from James Zhong in November 2021. A year later, he pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining them on the Silk Road darknet marketplace.
According to the US Department of Justice, in September 2012, Zhong carried out a fraudulent scheme using fake accounts without displaying or purchasing any goods or services on the site.
According to authorities, he made deposits ranging from 200 to 2,000 BTC, after which he quickly withdrew funds in multiples. Zhong initiated more than 140 such transactions, which brought him a total of 50,000 BTC.
“There are approximately 41,491 BTC remaining that the government will liquidate in four batches over the course of a calendar year. […] The second round of liquidations will not take place until Zhong is sentenced,” the documents say.
At the time of writing, the value of the remaining 41,491 BTC is ~$1.8 billion.
Blockworks experts suggested that in the next few months the US government will again sell Bitcoins associated with Silk Road.
Let us remind you that in July, 9824 BTC seized from the darknet marketplace began to move
In December, the US Court of Appeals approved the confiscation of 69,370 BTC belonging to Silk Road.
The decision also applies to an equivalent number of forks of Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV and Bitcoin Gold.
