The US Government Holds Over 214,000 Bitcoin, Fed’s Stash Equates to More Than 1% of BTC’s Supply

November 8, 2022 Bitcoin.com

US Announces ‘Historic $3.36 Billion Cryptocurrency Seizure’ as Silk Road Bitcoin Thief Pleads Guilty

November 8, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Feds Seize Silk Road Hacker’s 50,676 BTC Worth Over $3,600,000,000 Ten Years After Massive Heist

November 7, 2022 The Daily Hodl

The U.S. Government Has Over $4.4B in Bitcoin It Could Dump Anytime

November 7, 2022 The Crypto Briefing

US authorities announce conviction connected to Bitcoin stolen from Silk Road

November 7, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams cited “state-of-the-art cryptocurrency tracing” and “good old-fashioned police work” in the authorities recovering the stolen Bitcoin.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has announced that an individual has pled guilty to wire fraud charges connected to “unlawfully obtained” Bitcoin from the Silk Road marketplace in 2012.

In a Nov. 7 announcement, the U.S. Justice Department said James Zhong pled guilty to wire fraud charges related to executing a scheme to steal roughly 50,676 Bitcoin (BTC) from Silk Road. Authorities seized the Bitcoin from Zhong’s home in the state of Georgia in November 2021, at which time the total value of the crypto was roughly $3.36 billion.

“James Zhong committed wire fraud over a decade ago when he stole approximately 50,000 Bitcoin from Silk Road,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “For almost ten years, the whereabouts of this massive chunk of missing Bitcoin had ballooned into an over $3.3 billion mystery.”

Williams cited “state-of-the-art cryptocurrency tracing” and “good old-fashioned police work” in the authorities tracking down and recovering the stolen BTC. IRS special agents raided Zhong’s property, finding more than 50,491 BTC in a floor safe and “on a single-board computer that was submerged under blankets in a popcorn tin” in addition to another hoard of more than 11 BTC, $661,900 in cash, and 25 Casascius coins worth roughly 174 BTC.

“This case shows that we won’t stop following the money, no matter how expertly hidden, even to a circuit board in the bottom of a popcorn tin.”

According to the Justice Department, Zhong’s scheme involved creating nine accounts on the marketplace to conceal his identity and triggering more than 140 transactions in short order “to trick Silk Road’s withdrawal-processing system” to send the BTC. He was able to set up the accounts with “the bare minimum of information” and didn’t conduct any listings or sales. After withdrawing more BTC than he had deposited, Zhong moved the funds out of Silk Road and “consolidated them into two high-value amounts.”

“As an example, on September 19, 2012, Zhong deposited 500 Bitcoin into a Silk Road wallet,” said the Justice Department. “Less than five seconds after making the initial deposit, Zhong executed five withdrawals of 500 Bitcoin in rapid succession — i.e., within the same second — resulting in a net gain of 2,000 Bitcoin.”

Silk Road, defunct for almost ten years, originally allowed users to buy and sell illicit goods such as weapons and stolen credit card information. However, the marketplace drew the attention of the FBI as many listings were for illegal drugs.

Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht was arrested for his role in 2013 and is currently serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole. Zhong could face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud. He is expected to be sentenced in February 2023.

4 Years After the 2017 Law Enforcement Takedown, Alphabay Is Once Again the King of Darknet Markets

November 4, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Crypto use an aggravating factor for sentencing: Aussie court study

July 21, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Australia

Offenders that use cryptocurrency for illegal activity in Australia are more likely to receive a tougher sentence.

Criminals that used cryptocurrency as part of committing a crime are more likely to receive a tougher sentence in Australian courts, a new study has found.

The study, titled “Crime and Cryptocurrency in Australian Courts,” published on Monday in the Monash University Law Review, found that the use of cryptocurrency in criminal activity was seen as indicating an increased “degree of planning” and sophistication, leading the court to “consider general deterrence above other sentencing purposes:”

“Obtaining and using cryptocurrency for payments does require a greater degree of technical skill compared to the general population which may be unfamiliar with these payments.”

The study analyzed 103 cases presented to Australian courts between 2009 and 2020, with specific focus on 59 criminal cases and their sentencing procedures.

Not so sophisticated

Study authors Aaron Lane and Lisanne Adam found that Aussie courts broadly perceive crypto use as being indicative of “technical sophistication” and “intentional obfuscation.”

However, the pair argued that Aussie courts may be “too eager to adopt a relatively simplistic characterization” of crypto use in criminal activity, arguing that not all crypto use can signify the same level of sophistication:

“Sophistication exists on a spectrum.”

Courts must be able to differentiate between the different types of crypto transactions used by perpetrators, especially as the wider adoption of digital assets continues to grow.

Perpetrators that used centralized digital currency exchanges — where Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements mean that identification can be readily obtained — cannot be treated similarly to offenders that intentionally use anonymous noncustodial wallets or mixing services to obscure transaction data.

Cryptocurrency and digital assets have a long-standing reputation by some in the public realm as being linked to illegal activity , most likely stemming from Bitcoin’s initial association with the infamous darknet black market Silk Road.

While this negative association still looms over the digital asset industry, the amount of crypto used for illicit activity has never been lower, according to a recent report from CipherTrace.

The report estimated that illicit activity was between 0.62% and 0.65% of overall cryptocurrency activity in 2020 and has since fallen to between 0.10% and 0.15% of overall activity throughout 2021.

$3,000,000,000 Worth of Bitcoin (BTC) Forfeited to US Government By Former Silk Road Founder

April 25, 2022 The Daily Hodl

Germany Seizes $25M in Bitcoin in Darknet Marketplace Bust

April 5, 2022 The Crypto Briefing

Nifty News: Solana NFTs on OpenSea in April, Ross Ulbricht’s new collection… and more

March 30, 2022 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin 2022

OpenSea shared a 16-second video on Twitter to announce the integration, with many popular Solana collections announcing their intention to list on the marketplace.

Solana (SOL) NFT holders will soon have a new option for where to trade, with OpenSea teasing its integration of the Solana blockchain.

A 16-second video shared by the OpenSea Twitter account opened with the phrase “wen solana???” being typed into a search box and revealed that Solana will be supported by the marketplace in April.

The best kept secret in web3 pic.twitter.com/xuZn64cZ4U
— OpenSea (@opensea) March 29, 2022

Rumors of OpenSea supporting Solana NFTs have circulated for months. Security researcher Jane Manchun Wong — who made Forbes 30 under 30 for her high profile tech leak scoops — shared images on Twitter in January she said were sourced from OpenSea’s platform.

The images show the marketplace’s “blockchains filter” listing Solana as an option and the Phantom Solana crypto wallet appearsg in a list of supported wallets.

OpenSea’s Chains Filter showing Solana as an option pic.twitter.com/asQoYrfTm4
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) January 25, 2022

OpenSea coyly replied to Wong’s tweet with a “wide eyes” emoji at the time, but didn’t outright confirm or deny the authenticity of the claim.

Many popular Solana NFT projects have announced their intention to list with OpenSea in April, including SolPunks, Turtles, Remnants and the Degenerate Ape Academy.

The Solana integration will pitch OpenSea in direct competition with Magic Eden, Solanart, and Solsea, the current leading NFT marketplaces on the Solana blockchain.

Mistake or hack? Bored Ape NFT sells for $140

An OpenSea user by the handle “cchan” has sold a Bored Ape NFT and a Mutant Ape NFT for a combined value of $140.

A user made offers on the NFTs which were accepted by cchan and the sales were made to the within a minute of each other on Monday, Mar. 28, with BAYC #835 sold for 115 DAI, and MAYC #11670 sold for 25 DAI which is 99% under the current floor price.

DAI is a US dollar stablecoin with a diamond logo and it’s unknown if cchan mistook the offers to be in Ethereum (ETH) which would’ve been the equivalent of $470,000, or if the sales weres the result of a hack.

Activity by the user who purchased the NFTs shows a history of offers being made in DAI on Bored and Mutant Ape NFTs, which some have suggested could be in the hopes that this exact set of circumstances would occur.

Silk Road Founder to launch new NFTs at Bitcoin Miami

Ross Ulbricht, the imprisoned founder of the defunct darknet marketplace “Silk Road” is set to release another collection of NFTs at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami in April, with funds raised going toward helping children travel to visit their parents in prison.

In December 2021, Ulbricht auctioned a collection at the Art Basel Miami which netted him $6.2 million. The collection was purchased by FreeRossDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization that aims to “share Ross's work with the world and give everyone a unique opportunity to own a piece of it.”

“All of this has brought a new spark to my life,” Ross wrote in a post, reflecting on the sale of his last collection.

“I have direction and purpose and I feel like I can make a difference again. The more money we raise, the more good we can do, so I have been busy creating my next art collection.”

Dubbed the “Growth Collection”, it will be minted on the Bitcoin blockchain via Counterparty, and the piece will reportedly feature four physical oil paintings and one hand-drawn animation, accompanied by five Bitcoin NFTs to be auctioned on the Scarce.City network.

Ulbricht is serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole for his part in creating the illicit online marketplace, which famously used Bitcoin as the means of transaction.

WWE and the Metaverse

The WWE has partnered with Fanatics, a sports marketing business which, amongst other offerings, enables brands to offer digital collectibles and NFTs to their audience.

The partnership will see Fanatics create “physical, digital, and non-fungible token (NFT) trading cards” for the WWE, with Fanatics to become the exclusive provider of licensed WWE physical and NFT trading cards, building a range featuring WWE’s “biggest moments and stars.”

Other Nifty News

Mark Karpelès, the former CEO of the defunct Mt. Gox exchange announced that users who used the exchange between 2010 and 2014 around the time it was hacked, are eligible to register for a free NFT in the hopes it will “erase a bit of the loss incurred in Mt. Gox.”

The Decentraland metaverse hosted the Metaverse Fashion Week between March 24-27, 2022, the event attracted over 70 big name fashion labels and artists such as Tommy Hilfiger, Dolce and Gabbana, and Estée Lauder.

Silk Road

Not so sophisticated

Mistake or hack? Bored Ape NFT sells for $140

Silk Road Founder to launch new NFTs at Bitcoin Miami

WWE and the Metaverse

Other Nifty News

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