© Reuters
WASHINGTON – In a landmark decision, the United States Court of Appeals today upheld the forfeiture of a cache of bitcoins directly linked to the infamous Silk Road online marketplace. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a large cache of cryptocurrencies, including 69,000 bitcoins linked to drug transactions, money laundering and murder-for-hire on Silk Road, had to be seized. These bitcoins were held by “individual X”, who was involved in a hacking incident around 2012-2013.
The cache was initially valued at over $1 billion, rising to $13,742 during the seizure period. It is now worth more than $3 billion, with bitcoin currently trading at $42,440 per unit. This decision sets an important precedent in the area of digital assets and their role in the legal system. Despite defense arguments challenging the seizure, the Court’s decision reaffirms the government’s position on the forfeiture of assets linked to criminal activity.
This case is particularly noteworthy because it involves one of the largest known reserves of cryptocurrencies associated with illegal operations. The Silk Road, which operated from February 2011 to October 2013, became a hub for illicit transactions involving millions of users. The platform used bitcoin as its primary form of currency, which, at the time, guaranteed a certain level of anonymity to its users.
The Silk Road was shut down in October 2013 and its founder, Ross Ulbricht, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, advances in blockchain analytics have since enabled authorities to trace and seize these digital assets.
This marks a significant legal triumph in a three-year battle and solidifies government efforts to curb cryptocurrency crime following the Silk Road operations (2011-2013). The move echoes calls for increased security in the digital currency sphere.
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