U.S. submits intention to dispose of $117 million worth of Bitcoin seized from Silk Road drug dealers
The U.S. government has filed a notice of intent to dispose of approximately $117 million worth of Bitcoin seized in a dark web drug raid.
The U.S. government announced in a notice on January 8 that it “plans to abolish it.”“In the manner directed by the Attorney General of the United States.” In 2021, approximately 2,875 Bitcoins were seized from Ryan Farace and Sean Bridges, along with another approximately 59 Bitcoins belonging solely to Farace.
At the time of the application, the value of the seized Bitcoin was approximately $133 million.
In 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice said it had indicted Farace on charges of illegally selling Xanax on the dark web.
“The indictment alleges that Farace distributed drugs through sales on the dark web in exchange for Bitcoin,” the DOJ said in a statement at the time. Earlier this month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Farace and his father, Joseph Farace, were sentenced to prison for money laundering conspiracy.
Xanaxman used the Silk Road.
Farace, who traded drugs online under the alias Xanaxman, said in his plea that he used the infamous dark website Silk Road. The U.S. government also said in a statement explaining its intention to sell Bitcoin that anyone wishing to claim “interest in confiscated property” can do so within 60 days.
Separately, a U.S. appeals court in December upheld an order formalizing the confiscation of 69,370 bitcoins linked to the now-defunct Silk Road dark web market.
Market watchers have been closely monitoring these funds and have often speculated about how the U.S. government’s large-scale Bitcoin sales could impact the price of the cryptocurrency.
Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht is currently serving a life sentence. He ran a dark website selling drugs and weapons from 2011 to 2013. The site was shut down by the Federal Bureau of Investigation following Ulbricht’s arrest in late 2013.
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