The US government is set to sell the remaining Bitcoin worth over USD 1.17 billion that was confiscated from James Zhong, a hacker involved in the Silk Road illicit marketplace case.
The sale will take place after Zhong’s sentencing on April 14th. The government has already sold around 9,861 BTC for over USD 215 million on March 14th.
Zhong was accused of using fake accounts to trick Silk Road’s payment processing system in 2012, resulting in the theft of virtual assets. The Bitcoin was eventually discovered at Zhong’s Georgia home in November 2021 and seized by federal authorities when it was worth USD 3.6 billion. In connection with the theft, Zhong pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud.
Silk Road, a former darknet black market, was infamous for illegal activities such as money laundering and drug running. The government had previously sold some of the seized Bitcoin from the Ulbricht case before Judge Schofield, which had led to the liquidation of 9,861.1707894 BTC out of the 51,351.89785803 BTC seized.
At the current value of Bitcoin, the sale of the remaining BTC would have a value of USD 1.175 billion. The US government has not yet revealed the timeline for the remaining batches of liquidation, but it is expected to be sold later this year.
