In 2018, 117 million dollars worth of Bitcoin were seized from Silk Road drug dealer Ryan Farace and one other person who traded drugs using the Silk Road.
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In a statement, the United States made a statement stating its plan to sell Bitcoin assets seized in 2021.
On January 8, in a statement made by the US;
In 2021, it is planned to dispose of approximately 2,875 Bitcoins seized from Ryan Farace and Sean Bridges, as well as approximately 59 Bitcoins “as the Attorney General of the United States may direct”.
At the current exchange rate, the value of the seized Bitcoin assets is worth 117 million dollars.
In 2018, the US Department of Justice announced that it had charged Farace with illegally selling Xanax on the dark web.
The Justice Department said at the time; (Bitcoin)
The indictment alleges that Farace distributed the drugs through sales on the dark web in exchange for bitcoin. Earlier this month, the US Attorney’s Office sentenced Farace and his father Joseph Farace to prison for money laundering conspiracy.
Farace trafficked drugs over the internet under the username XANAXMAN with the help of the Silk Road website. The US government also said in a statement outlining its intention to sell Bitcoin that anyone who wants to claim “interest on confiscated property” can do so within 60 days.
Unrelated to the issue, a US appeals court ruling last December formalized the forfeiture of 69,370 Bitcoins tied to the Silk Road marketplace.
At the moment, everyone is keeping an eye on these assets because it is a big question how the sales will affect the price.
Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht is currently serving a life sentence. From 2011 to 2013, he ran the shadowy website for the sale of drugs and weapons. The site was shut down by the Federal Bureau of Investigation following Ulbricht’s arrest in late 2013.