Summary
The United States plans to sell over $130 million worth of bitcoin linked to the Silk Road forfeitures. The bitcoin is connected to Ryan Farace, who was convicted of money laundering conspiracy, and Shaun Bridges, a former Secret Service agent involved in the theft of bitcoin during the investigation of the Silk Road. Farace and his father attempted to transfer the bitcoin to a foreign bank account, while Bridges admitted to using a private key to access a digital wallet belonging to the US government.
Key Points
1. The United States plans to sell over $130 million worth of bitcoin linked to the Silk Road forfeitures. The government intends to sell two lots of bitcoin, with the first lot consisting of approximately 2,800 BTC valued at around $129 million, and the second lot containing 58 BTC worth about $3 million.
2. The bitcoins being sold are connected to Ryan Farace, who was convicted of money laundering conspiracy and sentenced to 54 months in prison. Farace and his father were found guilty of laundering bitcoin used for drug trafficking that should have been forfeited to the US. They conspired to transfer over 2,874 Bitcoin to a third party for it to be moved into a foreign bank account.
3. The first lot of bitcoin to be sold is also linked to Shaun Bridges, a former Secret Service agent involved in the Baltimore Silk Road Task Force. Bridges was sentenced to six years in prison for stealing BTC during the US government’s investigation of the Silk Road dark marketplace. Bridges admitted to using a private key to access a digital wallet belonging to the US government and transferring the bitcoin to other digital wallets he had exclusive access to.