Michaela
Over 300 long-dormant wallets tied to the defunct Silk Road marketplace have moved $3 million in Bitcoin to a single unknown address, while still holding around $40 million potentially linked to pardoned founder Ross Ulbricht.
Key Points
- Over 300 dormant Silk Road wallets moved $3 million in Bitcoin to a single address, with $40 million remaining.
- The transfers followed a consolidation pattern, including amounts ranging from $5 to $338,000 per transaction.
- Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road founder, was pardoned by President Trump, prompting others in the crypto space to seek clemency.
Blockchain analytics firm Arkham reported that on Tuesday, roughly 312 long-dormant wallets moved a total of $3.14 million in Bitcoin to the address “bc1q***ga54” within 12 hours. The motive for the sudden activity remains unknown.
The Bitcoin transfers, which spanned from tiny amounts of 0.00006 BTC (around $5.58) to larger sums exceeding 3.6 BTC ($338,640), followed a consolidation pattern, with funds from multiple legacy wallets flowing into a single destination address over several hours. Some of these wallets were linked to mining activity dating back to 2011, a period when Bitcoin mining could still be done on standard personal computers.
In January, Coinbase Director Conor Grogan flagged these holdings, estimating their combined value at roughly $47 million in Bitcoin spread across dozens of addresses potentially tied to Ulbricht.
Related: British Hacker Danny Khan Suspected Caught in Dubai With $18.5M Crypto
Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2015. Silk Road operated from 2011 to 2013, facilitating the anonymous sale of illegal drugs and other illicit goods through Bitcoin. Ulbricht, who ran the site under the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts,” was convicted on charges including conspiracy to commit money laundering, computer hacking, and narcotics trafficking.
Prosecutors said he oversaw transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars, while his defense argued the platform was intended as a libertarian experiment in free-market commerce.
Related: Matt Hougan Says Strategy Isn’t at Risk of Forced Selling Bitcoin
In January, shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump granted Ulbricht a full pardon, fulfilling a campaign promise. The move marked a striking development in the long-running Silk Road case, sparking immediate debate across political and cryptocurrency communities about justice, digital innovation, and the reach of government authority.
Following Ulbricht’s pardon, several prominent figures in the crypto world have reportedly pursued clemency. Among them are Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the collapsed FTX exchange, and Roger Ver, widely recognized in the community as “Bitcoin Jesus,” both seeking presidential pardons in the wake of the Silk Road founder’s high-profile case.
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MICHAELA
Michaela is a news writer focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain topics. She prioritizes rigorous research and accuracy to uncover interesting angles and ensure engaging reporting. A lifelong book lover, she applies her passion for reading to deeply explore the constantly evolving crypto world.
