Darknet marketplace Silk Road-linked cryptocurrency wallets have shown significant activity, moving approximately $3.14 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) less than a year after its founder, Ross Ulbricht, received a full pardon from US President Donald Trump.
The transfers, numbering 176 in total, represent the most substantial activity from these wallets in five years. Prior to this, Silk Road-related wallets had only executed three small test transactions earlier this year.
According to blockchain data platform Arkham, all the recent transfers were directed to an unknown cryptocurrency wallet identified as “bc1qn.” The primary Silk Road-tagged wallets continue to hold an estimated $38.4 million in Bitcoin, while the newly created address currently holds only the $3.14 million from these recent transactions.
Cointelegraph has reached out to Ross Ulbricht for comment regarding the ownership of the new wallet, but was unable to independently verify it.
In January, former President Donald Trump granted a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road. Ulbricht had been serving a double life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Ulbricht was convicted in 2015 for his role in establishing and operating Silk Road, a notorious darknet marketplace that facilitated the anonymous trading of illicit goods using Bitcoin.
Following his pardon, supporters have contributed approximately $270,000 in Bitcoin donations to the Free Ross campaign, as indicated by on-chain data.
Potential for Unseized Crypto Holdings
While the US government successfully seized at least $3.36 billion in Bitcoin from Silk Road, some industry observers suggest that Ross Ulbricht may have possessed multiple other Bitcoin wallets that were not discovered during the asset seizure process.
Conor Grogan, director at Coinbase exchange, highlighted that approximately 430 BTC, valued at around $47 million, remains untouched in wallets that are believed to be linked to Ulbricht. These specific wallets have been dormant for over 13 years.
Another Silk Road-tagged wallet, also presumed to belong to Ulbricht, holds $8.3 million in Bitcoin. This wallet has been inactive for 14 years, with the exception of three minor test transactions made in the past 10 months, according to Arkham.