After years of silence, Silk Road bitcoin is on the move again

A bitcoin (BTC) wallet associated with the legendary and now-defunct darknet marketplace Silk Road has resurfaced, sending millions of dollars’ worth of BTC to an unknown address.

On Tuesday, someone sent nearly 34 BTC ($3 million) across more than 170 transactions to a single address, according to Arkham Intelligence data.

It’s unknown who consolidated the BTC into a so-called SegWit standard address or for what reason. While it might not be the reason for the move, as reported by Cybernews, SegWit addresses are considered more resistant to a possible quantum-computer attack.

Coinbase’s Director of Product Conor Grogan reacted to the news by reposting his earlier findings from January this year, when he tied 430 BTC ($40 million) to Ross Ulbricht, the creator of Silk Road, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump in January 2025 after serving 12 years in prison. However, it’s still unknown whether Ulbricht has the private keys to these BTC, as he hasn’t commented on the holdings yet.

In total, the US government confiscated around 204,000 BTC ($18.9 billion) related to Silk Road. About 144,000 BTC were seized from Ulbricht, while the rest were taken from an unknown individual and James Zhong, who already pleaded guilty to unlawfully obtaining BTC from Silk Road.

Part of the seized funds were cleared for sale. However, these funds might also become part of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve announced by Trump earlier this year.

Silk Road operated from 2011 to 2013 before it was shut down by the FBI, and attempts to launch Silk Road 2.0 were also short-lived. The marketplace for both illegal and legal products was one of the main platforms using BTC at the time, contributing to the early adoption of the technology.

Meanwhile, as reported, multiple darknet marketplaces continue to operate. Taking down crypto-enabled platforms is not enough, as criminals simply fragment and rebrand their operations.

However, the darknet can also provide anonymity and secure communication in countries where, for example, free speech is restricted, while also helping activists fighting local regimes.

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