--- title: "US Government Seizes $1 Billion in Silk Road Bitcoin" description: "The Justice Department seized $1 billion worth of bitcoin after analysts found about 70,000 bitcoins were taken out of a Silk Road-related account." date: "2020-11-05" modified: "2020-11-05" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/us-government-seizes-silk-road-bitcoin" categories: - "Bitcoin" - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" tags: - "bitcoin" - "cryptocurrency" - "silk road" - "the digest" --- # US Government Seizes $1 Billion in Silk Road Bitcoin ![The Justice Department seized $1 billion worth of bitcoin after analysts found about 70,000 bitcoins were taken out of a Silk Road-related account.]() *\Image: Image via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\* ## Shady Money A billion dollars worth of bitcoin linked to the long-defunct darknet marketplace Silk Road [suddenly moved this week]() — for the first time since the FBI raided the operation in April 2013. Now we know why. The US Treasury seized the bitcoins, [*Wired* reports](), with the Department of Justice filing a civil forfeiture complaint claiming the bitcoins were stolen by a mysterious hacker named "Individual X" in court documents. It's the largest seizure of cryptocurrency in the history of the US Justice Department, [*CNBC* reports](). ## Free Ross Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to a double life sentence in 2015. "The successful prosecution of Silk Road’s founder in 2015 left open a billion-dollar question," US Attorney David Anderson in a statement. "Where did the money go?" "Today's forfeiture complaint answers this open question at least in part," he added. "$1bn of these criminal proceeds are now in the United States' possession." ## Bread Crumbs The bitcoins were stored under a single address since at least 2013 and were left untouched until this week. Criminal investigators tracked down the address of the mysterious "Individual X" using a third party company that specializes in cryptocurrency tracing tools, the [*BBC* reports](). Coincidentally, the value of bitcoin has currently climbed above $15,000, the highest it's been since January 2018, according to *CNBC*. **READ MORE:** [Record $1 billion worth of bitcoin linked to the Silk Road seized by U.S. government]() \[*CNBC*\] **More on the story:** *[Someone Just Moved $1 Billion in Bitcoin From a Busted Darknet Market]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()