US Government Sells 9,800 BTC, But Still Holds More Bitcoin In Wallets Than MicroStrategy!

The US government sold $215 million worth of Bitcoin from the Silk Road loot that was seized in November last year by the Feds. According to the memo filed in court, the government sold close to 20% of the BTC and is looking to liquidate the rest throughout the year.

US Government Sells 9800 BTC

On March 14th, the US government sold about 9861 BTC of the 51,351 that was seized from the Silk Road Crime which was executed by James Zhong, from which it made approximately $215 million after paying 0.1% in transaction fees.

The court filing reads,” With respect to the 51,351.89785803 Bitcoin forfeited in the Ulbricht case before Judge Schofield, the Government has begun liquidating (selling) it. On March 14, 2023, the Government sold 9,861.1707894 BTC (of the 51,351.89785803 BTC) for a total of $215,738,154.98. After $215,738.15 in transaction fees, the net proceeds to the Government were $215,522,416.83. “

The crypto being sold was forfeited by the hacker, Zhong, who, in September 2012, was charged with wire fraud after allegedly acquiring more than 50,000 Bitcoin from the darknet market Silk Road. Zhong pleaded guilty in November 2022 after which the government took ownership of the BTC, which was worth over $3 billion at the time.

In addition to this sale, the government also revealed that the remaining 41,490 BTC would be sold over the course of the year in four rounds. The government also acknowledged that the next sale would require that Zhong’s sentencing date be determined.

Silk Road was a dark marketplace used to sell illegal goods ranging from drugs to weapons to stolen credit card credentials. The marketplace however came to the spotlight after the arrest of its creator, Ulbricht,  in 2013 after which it was shut down.

I was arrested at the age of 29 and today I turn 39. I’ve lost my 30s to prison.

During that time, I’ve done my best to learn from my mistakes, better myself, and help others do the same.

I hope someday I can make amends as a free man as well.

— Ross Ulbricht (@RealRossU) March 27, 2023

The Government Still Holds More BTC

Despite the liquidation of the recent batch, the US government still holds more BTC than Microstrategy and Tesla combined. Microstrategy is the public company that holds the most BTC with 138,955 valued at close to $4 billion at the time of writing while Tesla holds 10,725 BTC.

Prior to the liquidation of 9861 BTC, the government held at least 215, 000 BTC from the seizures it has accumulated over the years which accounts for over 1% of the BTC in circulation.

The first case of a Bitcoin government seizure was from a person named “Individual X” who was a Silk Road user, where the government confiscated 69,369 BTC.  According to reports, federal law enforcement seized the money on November 3, 2020, after filing a judicial forfeiture request which the individual consented to. Individual X then forfeited all of his possessions including the BTC worth over $1 billion at the time.

In the second case, US officials seized 94,636 BTC that were connected to the 2016 hack of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. In connection with the case, Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan were also arrested for conspiring to launder 119,754 BTC through more than 2,000 transactions over a five-year period.

This was termed the “largest cryptocurrency seizure to date” by the United States Department of Justice as it was valued at $4 billion at the time of seizure.

The third case is that of Zhong who after pleading guilty forfeited more than 51,326 BTC, worth over $3.36 billion that was found by the Department of Justice at his home in Gainesville, Georgia, on November 9, 2021.

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