Silk Road’s Ross Ulbricht Sees Bitcoin Donations Amid $47M Wallet Rumors

• Ross Ulbricht has gained significant financial support from the Bitcoin community.

• Federal authorities may still pursue untouched Bitcoin tied to the Silk Road. 

After former President Donald Trump released Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht from prison, the Bitcoin community donated cryptocurrencies to support Ulbricht’s FreeRoss.org fund. While many have donated money to Ulbricht since his release from federal prison after running Silk Road, many questions persist about his financial needs.

Potential Millions in Dormant Bitcoin

Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange director Conor Grogan reveals Ulbricht may currently possess millions of Bitcoins. According to Grogan, the wallets containing 430 Bitcoins worth $47 million in unclaimed funds remain linked to potential connections with Ulbricht. The digital wallets have been inactive for more than 13 years.

Social media platform X hosts Grogan’s statement, which details his discovery of approximately 430 BTC distributed across multiple wallets linked to Ross Ulbricht. Those wallets remained untouched for the past 13+ years.

Statistics from Arkham Intelligence confirm Grogan’s discoveries by tracing 14 Bitcoin wallet addresses to a total of $47 million in Silk Road finances. According to research, a Bitcoin wallet with the initial sequence “1CQv” holds more than $9 million USD. The ownership of these wallets remains in doubt because Decrypt has not verified if they belonged to Ulbricht or whether the government still possesses them.

Available historical records prove that the government effectively controlled Silk Road monetary resources. In 2020, the authorities seized about one billion dollars in Bitcoin funds from an account associated with hacker “Individual X.” Whether Ulbrich has the necessary private keys to access the potential $47 million he owns remains unresolved. Studies in the Bitcoin industry show that over 20% of all existing Bitcoin is stuck in unclaimable wallets due to users losing private keys or the death of owners.

Significant Contributions from the Bitcoin Community

The release of Ulbricht led to exponential growth in financial support directed to his foundation. Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken transferred $111,111 to Ulbricht’s account through a donation that matched his 2.62 BTC (about $272,000 worth). Four types of cryptocurrency, namely Ethereum, USDC, Tether, and Binance Coin, brought together $4,615 to the donation fund.

According to X journalist Pete Rizzo, the donation rate could pass $1 million in three days based on present donation levels. The money pouring into this donation fund demonstrates immediate funding support, but the mystery surrounding any extra Bitcoin assets belonging to Ulbricht remains unanswered.

Legal Implications for Silk Road-Linked Funds

The discovery of Bitcoin funds without known owners on the Silk Road creates uncertainties about whether the United States government plans to seize those assets, reported CNF. A recent federal Bitcoin sale valued at $6.5 billion shows authorities actively seek to recover Silk Road wallet assets.

General Counsel Eli Cohen from Centrifuge asserts any Silk Road-related funds could become forfeiture targets when authorities connect them to crimes traced back to the platform. 

According to Cohen, the US government presented the 2021 Silk Road hacker James Zhong’s Bitcoin seizure (50,676 Bitcoins) as evidence of its continuous efforts against illicit cryptocurrency holdings.

Bitcoin community members actively support Ulbricht while the future legal status of those inactive wallets following the Silk Road case continues to draw considerable attention.