According to The Block on the 22nd (local time), Coinbase executive Conor
Grogan claims to have found approximately 430 BTC in a wallet linked to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, which he claims has been unused for 13 years.
The coins are worth about $47 million at current exchange rates. Grogan said he received money from multiple wallets belonging to Ulbricht through the social media platform X.
"These bitcoins were not included in the approximately 174,000 bitcoins seized by U.S. authorities after the Silk Road was shut down in 2013, and have not been used for more than 13 years," the company said.
The Coinbase director also released screenshots of a Bitcoin address believed to belong to Ulbricht.
According to Roller Mempool, the address in question contained 88.77 BTC. Grogan said, "At the time, these wallets were likely part of the Dustbin network."
"These were just 'small balance wallets' but together they're now worth about $47 million," he said, adding, "Ross, welcome back."
But Grogan acknowledged that it's unlikely Ulbricht holds the private keys to those bitcoin wallets. "We'll find out soon," he said.
Meanwhile, Ulbricht was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in October 2013 and indicted in 2015 on charges of continuing criminal activity, narcotics distribution, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, and drug trafficking.
He was convicted of money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to traffic in false documents and other charges and was sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years in prison, for which he is currently serving.
On the 21st of last month, President Donald Trump announced, "I am now fully and unconditionally pardoning Ulbricht.
"I've signed the document," formally approving his pardon. President Trump had promised to pardon Ulbricht if elected.
2025/01/23 17:18 KST
Copyright(C) BlockchainToday wowkorea.jp 117