© Reuters
WASHINGTON – In a landmark decision today, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the seizure of caches directly tied to the infamous Silk Road online marketplace. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a significant cache of cryptocurrency, including 69,000 bitcoins linked to drug transactions, money laundering and murder-for-hire on the Silk Road, will be forfeited. They were organized by “Individual X”, in connection with a hack around 2012-2013.
The cache was initially valued at over $1 billion with Bitcoin at $13,742 during the seizure. It is currently worth over $3 billion as Bitcoin is currently trading at $42,440 each. This ruling sets an important precedent in the field of digital assets and their role in the legal system. Despite defense arguments against confiscation, the court’s decision reaffirmed the government’s position on confiscating assets related to criminal activities.
This case is especially notable because it involves one of the largest known cryptocurrency vaults involved in illegal activities. Silk Road, which operated from February 2011 to October 2013, became a hub for illegal transactions involving millions of users. The platform used Bitcoin as its primary form of currency, which at the time provided a level of anonymity to users.
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 analysis have allowed authorities to track and seize these digital assets.
This marks a key legal victory in the three-year battle and strengthens the government’s efforts to curb cryptocurrency-related criminal activities following the Silk Road (2011- two thousand and thirteen). The ruling reiterates calls for increased security in the digital currency sector.
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