United States DoJ free to sell Silk Road Bitcoin after judge declines all appeals blocking the liquidation. Will BTC fall?
Bitcoin
.cwp-coin-chart svg path {
stroke: ;
stroke-width: ;
}
Price
Trading volume in 24h
<!–
?
–>
Last 7d price movement
is shaky at press time. Looking at price charts, the world’s most valuable coin is down nearly 8% in three days and under pressure at press time. Although support remains at $90,000, events in the past day could trigger a wave of lower lows.
According to a December 30 court filing, confirmed by DB News on January 8, Judge Richard Seeborg of the Northern District of California declined to hear Battle Born Investments and other claimants appeal over the ownership of 69,370 BTC worth over $4.33 billion.
The US Govt has been given the greenlight to liquidate 69,000 BTC ($6.5B) from Silk Road, an official confirmed to DB News today
Interesting situation less than 2 weeks away from the new admin who vowed to not sell https://t.co/HqD1KnhJK3 pic.twitter.com/xn8ATSEL7H
— db (@tier10k) January 9, 2025
The decision effectively grants the Department of Justice (DoJ) complete control over the stash surrendered in 2020 by an unnamed individual with ties to the infamous “Silk Road” marketplace.
Silk Road was shut down by United States authorities in 2013. The marketplace allowed people to trade narcotics and arms illegally, with payment made in BTC. At that time, BTC was in its infancy.
EXPLORE: GameFi Project Illuvium Set To Use Virtual’s G.A.M.E AI Framework To Power Its Games
The Silk Road Stash: Everything To Know About Dodgy BTC
Following this news, Bitcoin prices dumped earlier today, reversing from around $95,000 to spot rates.
(BTCUSDT)
The reaction was expected.
Now that the legal battle mounted by Battle Born Investment has been concluded and the government controls the huge BTC stash, there are speculations that the coin could come under immense pressure in the coming weeks.
The United States government often sells crypto assets confiscated from bad actors and assets deemed to be proceeds of illegalities. For this reason, the government would likely liquidate this batch (and others), selling it to willing buyers.
In the past, the government tried to offload the Silk Road BTC stash without success.
In 2022, the Department of Justice seized over 50,000 BTC and arrested James Zhong. In 2012, Zhong pleaded guilty to wire fraud for exploiting the Silk Road payment system.
(Source)
While there have been attempts to offload these coins, the government took a measured approach. In early 2023, they sold 10,000 BTC (out of the initial 50,000 BTC recovered from Zhong) for $216 million.
Then, it was decided that the remaining stash of 40,000 BTC was to be sold in four tranches throughout the year. However, there was not much follow-up.
With the judge declining all appeals, the government can now liquidate the 40,000 BTC and the over 69,000 BTC surrendered in 2020 in what would be the largest offloading in history–assuming all of them are sold at once.
DISCOVER: Ai16z Explodes +25% Amid Bidget Listing and Wolf of Wall Street Crypto Goes Viral
All Eyes On Government Wallet Addresses: Movements’ Impact on Bitcoin Prices
Eyes will be on any transfers from the associated address.
The last time BTC was moved from the government’s holdings was in late 2024 when 29,800 BTC (valued at over $2 billion) was transferred to Coinbase Prime. 10,000 BTC, or $594 million, was sold out of this.
Arkham Intelligence data shows that the government still controls 198,109 BTC or $18 billion. This stash includes BTC confiscated from Silk Road.
(Source)
Any unexpected liquidation of the $12.63 billion could massively disrupt the market. The abrupt sell-off could lower prices, especially if the market demand is insufficient to absorb the supply spike.
EXPLORE: 15 New & Upcoming Coinbase Listings to Watch in 2025
Join The 99Bitcoins News Discord Here For The Latest Market Updates
The post US Government Cleared to Sell Silk Road Bitcoin: Will Prices Dump? appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
