The US Department of Justice has successfully identified and confiscated $1 billion worth of illegally obtained Bitcoins. Market participants are currently discussing potential possible scenarios of what might happen in the future.
According to information from the Ministry of Justice, the Bitcoins were seized by government agencies in early November after an investigation, which included the tracking of transactions with the cryptocurrency. This is the largest confiscation of cryptocurrency in the entire history. Taking that into account, the US government currently has under its control the 5th biggest Bitcoin address (and the 3rd, if one discounts the addresses controlled by cryptocurrency exchanges).
According to court documents, law enforcement agencies have seized more than 69 З70 BTC and comparable numbers of Bitcoin Cash, as well as Bitcoin Gold and Bitcoin SV.
Some crypto enthusiasts presume that the confirmed Bitcoins will be sold at an auction. While others are convinced that whether the government decides to “store, sell or “destroy” the coins, every option is good for the price of Bitcoin.”
The 69,369 Bitcoins, which are presumably linked to the infamous Silk Road darknet marketplace, were moved for the first time in the last five years.
Prosecutor David L. Anderson stated that the “successful trial of the owner of Silk Road in 2015 presented us with an open question – where do $1 billion go.” Today’s news gives an answer to this question. Now a considerable part of these $1 billion of illegally generated profits are owned by the United States.
