Casey Wagner

The US government sold off more than 9,800 BTC connected to the Silk Road darknet marketplace for about $215 million earlier this month, a court filing released Friday shows.&nbsp;



James Zhong pleaded guilty to hacking Silk Road in 2012 and stealing more than 50,000 BTC (worth less than $1 million at the time), which the government <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/us-government-now-has-more-btc-than-largest-crypto-holders" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">seized in November</a> 2022.&nbsp;



“In total from the Zhong investigation, the Government has obtained final orders of forfeiture for approximately [51,680.32 BTC], valued at over $3.4 billion at the time of seizure,” the court filing noted.&nbsp;



On March 14, the government sold about 9,861.2 BTC for around $21,800 per token. On this date, bitcoin was trading on most exchanges at a high of around $26,500 and a low of around $24,000, according to <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/btc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blockworks Research</a>.



Government officials racked up more than $215,000 in transaction fees for the sale, court documents note. Officials added that they plan to sell the remaining 41,500 BTC ($1.2 billion) in a series of four batches this year. The method of sale wasn’t disclosed.



It is not the first time the US has sold off seized crypto. In 2014, officials unloaded around 30,000 BTC, also taken in connection with Silk Road, to venture capitalist Tim Draper.&nbsp;



The BTC was valued at around $17 million at the time of the auction, but today would be worth more than $850 million. A <a href="https://jlopp.github.io/us-marshals-bitcoin-auctions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dashboard</a> tracking US government bitcoin auctions estimates more than $5 billion has been left on the table by selling BTC too early.



Bitcoin was trading about 1% higher Friday afternoon in New York following the release of the court filing, hovering around $28,450.



US authorities shut down Silk Road in October 2013, arresting maintainer Ross Ulbricht. He was given a double life sentence two years later without possibility of parole.



Updated Mar. 31, 2023 at 12:10 pm ET: Added auction dashboard.



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US Government Dumps Bitcoin Stolen From Silk Road, $1.2B To Go

Morgan Chittum

<div id="highlights-block_61b386f78fbd6" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>A group of 1,320 crypto investors, who formed the FreeRossDAO, raised over $12 million to win the auction</li>
 <li>Proceeds from the NFT auction will go towards charity, according to Ulbricht</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Ross Ulbricht, a renowned bitcoin proponent who was sentenced to life in prison after founding controversial e-commerce website Silk Road, sold his first NFT at auction for $6.3 million worth of ether on Thursday.&nbsp;



&#8220;I am floored,&#8221; Ulbricht <a href="https://twitter.com/RealRossU/status/1469373599417053186?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a> on his account run by a loved one on Friday. &#8220;I feel like I have a new purpose now. The auction exceeded all expectations.&#8221;



Over a thousand crypto investors, dubbed the FreeRossDAO, galvanized to free Ulbricht, raising over $12 million to win the auction. The nascent DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization, used half the funds raised for the blockchain-based digital collectible.



“This is just the beginning,” the DAO said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/FreeRossDAO/status/1468902274256756740?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweet</a>. “Buying this NFT has not freed Ross. We still have a long way to go to seek justice and rectify his disproportionate sentence of double life imprisonment as a first-time, non-violent offender.”&nbsp;



The DAO, which formed on Dec. 2 after the NFT collection was <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-incarcerated-silk-road-founders-nft-collection-and-the-dao-trying-to-save-him/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a>, describes its mission as “[uniting] in solidarity for Ross, gathering funds to buy his <a href="https://superrare.com/artwork-v2/ross-ulbricht-genesis-collection-30841" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Genesis Collection</a> and protesting the injustices of the American prison system.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



The leftover funds that weren’t spent in the auction will stay in the group’s treasury and be managed by contributors of the DAO. Members received a $ROSS token to vote on how funds will be used — necessary for the “autonomous” component of a functioning DAO.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Perspective_Ross_Drawing_HD-1-1024x744-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-12426" width="839" height="609"/><figcaption>“Perspective” is a graphite pencil drawing created in prison; Source: <a href="https://superrare.com/artwork-v2/ross-ulbricht-genesis-collection-30841" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection</a></figcaption></figure>



“We really want to get this bootstrapped, started and get the community together to essentially fight for the freedom of Ross but also to fight for fixing this broken prison system,” a member of the DAO, who goes by <a href="https://twitter.com/_jamiis?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Jamis”</a>, said in a Twitter space on Dec. 1.&nbsp;



The Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection consists of artwork he has done as a child and later behind bars, which he described as a depiction of “his [life] story” in a <a href="https://rossulbricht.medium.com/my-nft-f2b4a9f1955c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog post.</a>&nbsp;



Proceeds from the collection are going to charity, according to Ulbricht&#8217;s mother, Lyn. “Ross wants to use his art to help people. And we’re starting out with helping the incarcerated [and their families with] the suffering they go through,” she said in the same Twitter space.



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Imprisoned Silk Road Founder Sold His First NFT for $6.3M to the DAO Trying to Free Him

<div id="highlights-block_61a93e5a988e1" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection consists of artwork Ulbricht has done behind bars and throughout his childhood</li>
 <li>The collection will be minted on Ethereum</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Ross Ulbricht, a renowned bitcoin proponent who was sentenced to life in prison after founding e-commerce platform Silk Road, is creating and auctioning off non-fungible tokens (NFTs).



The Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection consists of artwork Ulbricht has done behind bars and throughout his childhood, which he described as a depiction of “his [life] story” in a <a href="https://rossulbricht.medium.com/my-nft-f2b4a9f1955c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog post.</a>&nbsp;



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“Suddenly, sitting in prison, I had time for drawing again. I reconnected with my artistic side, producing illustrations that told the story I was going through,” Ulbricht said. “I was able to connect to those of you in the free world through my art. The isolation I felt was tempered by it.”&nbsp;</blockquote>



The collection of 10 NFTs will be minted on Ethereum and sold on <a href="https://superrare.com/artwork-v2/ross-ulbricht-genesis-collection-30841" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SupeRare’s</a> platform until next Wednesday. The highest bid for the auction (which started today) is currently at over $1 million worth of ether.&nbsp;



Silk Road holds a momentous position in the history of cryptocurrency, making Ulbricht a bitcoin hero to some and controversial to many.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Starting in 2011 and until his arrest in 2013, Silk Road allowed anonymous shoppers to buy anything, as long as it didn’t harm a third party, using bitcoin. Goods offered ranged from drugs, Fake IDs, art and more.&nbsp;



Ulbricht, whose story became the subject of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31920777-american-kingpin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road</a>, was eventually arrested in a San Francisco public library and later convicted of seven charges including conspiracy to traffic narcotics, conspiracy to computer hacking and money laundering by means of the internet.



Ross, a first-time offender, is serving a double life sentence plus 40 years, without the possibility of parole. This inordinately long sentence has galvanized supporters to find ways to help him and others like him who find themselves behind bars.



“In America, you&#8217;re not supposed to give a death in prison sentence in a situation where no one&#8217;s been prosecuted for inflicting any bodily harm,” his mother, Lyn Ulbricht, said in a Twitter space on Wednesday.&nbsp;



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="460" height="330" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/78994038-2B5D-4979-B8DB-BA331380CFA2_4_5005_c.jpeg" alt="Art by Ross Ulbricht" class="wp-image-12096" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/78994038-2B5D-4979-B8DB-BA331380CFA2_4_5005_c.jpeg?w=460 460w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/78994038-2B5D-4979-B8DB-BA331380CFA2_4_5005_c.jpeg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/78994038-2B5D-4979-B8DB-BA331380CFA2_4_5005_c.jpeg?w=358 358w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/78994038-2B5D-4979-B8DB-BA331380CFA2_4_5005_c.jpeg?w=364 364w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/78994038-2B5D-4979-B8DB-BA331380CFA2_4_5005_c.jpeg?w=305 305w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/78994038-2B5D-4979-B8DB-BA331380CFA2_4_5005_c.jpeg?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 460px) 100vw, 460px" /><figcaption>Source: Ross Ulbricht</figcaption></figure></div>



According to Ulbricht’s mother, proceeds from the NFT auction will be donated to charity, specifically for “helping the incarcerated.”



“Ross wants to use his art to help people. And we&#8217;re starting out with helping the incarcerated [and their families with] the suffering they go through,” Lyn said, adding that funds could go toward helping family members visit those who are in prison.



In response to the Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection, a group of crypto investors have banded together to form a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) called <a href="https://freerossdao.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FreeRossDAO.</a>



The DAO, which was announced on Wednesday, will use part of its funds to collectively bid on Ulbricht’s NFT collection. The organization has over $1.5 million worth of ether in its treasury balance, according to its <a href="https://freerossdao.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">website</a>. (PleasrDAO seeded the FreeRossDAO multisig with 240 ETH.)



Multisigners for FreeRossDAO include Trippy, Trippy Labs/Chief Freeing Officer; Nadya Tolokno, of Pussy Riot fame and PleasrDAO; Jamis also from PleasrDAO; Cobie from UpOnly; Path, Superhero; René, a lifelong friend of Ross; Elliot, another friend of Ross and program director for Musicambia, an organization building music schools in prisons across the US.



“We really want to get this bootstrapped, started and get the community together to essentially fight for the freedom of Ross but also to fight for fixing this broken prison system,” a member of the DAO, who goes by <a href="https://twitter.com/_jamiis?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Jamis”</a> online, said in the same Twitter space on Wednesday.



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