US authorities have a sum of 69. 370 Bitcoin confiscated from holdings of the 2013 closed darknet drug marketplace Silk Road. The coins are currently valued at over a billion US dollars or around 905 million euros. The crypto money had slumbered on an address for several years and was moved for the first time on Tuesday evening, which caused a stir and speculation – until the US Department of Justice publicly revealed itself as the actor behind it on Thursday evening. It is the largest seizure of crypto money in the history of the ministry.

“The successful investigation against the Silk-Road founder in the year 2015 left a billion dollar question unanswered. Where’s the money gone? “Prosecutor David L. Anderson said, according to the press release. Now you can answer the question at least a little further, so Anderson. Overall, the US authorities estimate that the Silk Road is around 600. 000 Bitcoin is said to have received trading fees, the whereabouts of which have not yet been fully clarified. Round 174. 000 Bitcoin is said to have been seized by the FBI at the time, and some of this crypto money has already been auctioned According to US authorities, a person referred to as “Individual X” should receive the coins 2012 or 2013 stolen from Silk Road with a hack. The person was only discovered 2020 when an investigator for the tax authority IRS together with a blockchain analysis company – according to reports from Chainalysis – during an investigation 54 were able to locate previously unassignable transactions in the context of Silk Road. Details about the hack and the suspect remained open.

It remains to be seen whether the coins will also be auctioned. The civil proceedings are currently underway, which will decide whether the US authorities may keep the money. The address on which the money is parked is in the Bitcoin rich list of the Bitinfocharts service in 5th place of the addresses with the highest credit. In addition, there are of course credits in Bitcoin spin-offs such as Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold. In view of the rising prices – Bitcoin is currently at a price of around 15. 400 US dollars back in the heights of the crypto boom in December 2017 – so the US administration has a real big catch made.

(axk)