An estimated $2 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC), which was previously seized by United States authorities in connection to the Silk Road marketplace, has been transferred to a new address.
According to blockchain data on April 2, a wallet linked to the U.S. Justice Department conducted a 0.001 Bitcoin transaction to a Coinbase Prime address, possibly as a test transaction. Shortly after, the same wallet transferred 30,174 BTC, equivalent to approximately $2 billion at the time, to a different address. Online investigators determined that the DOJ wallet held Bitcoin confiscated from James Zhong, who was convicted in 2022 for acquiring crypto from Silk Road through illegal means.
In 2012, Zhong stole over 50,000 BTC from Silk Road. In 2021, U.S. authorities raided his property and discovered hard wallets containing Bitcoin, including one that was hidden in a popcorn tin under blankets. The majority of the seized cryptocurrency was sent to the same address that recently transferred more than 30,000 BTC on April 2.
This is an ongoing story, and additional details will be provided as they become available.