According to Cointelegraph: In a noteworthy advancement in the Silk Road case, a U.S. appeals court has formalized the confiscation of 69,370 Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrency assets associated with the defunct darknet market, Silk Road. According to a filing on December 20, the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sanctioned the transfer of the Bitcoin to federal authority, solidifying a previous ruling that legitimized the government's claim to the digital assets procured from Silk Road's prohibited operations.
In addition to Bitcoin, the seizure also encompasses Bitcoin gold (BTG), Bitcoin SV (BSV), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The initial court judgment on Silk Road's Bitcoin was delivered in August, following the U.S. Justice Department's 2020 seizure and subsequent proposal for formal forfeiture of the cryptocurrency. This seizure exceeded $1 billion in value at the time.
The U.S. government took possession of these cryptocurrency assets from a person identified as "Individual X," who had hacked into Silk Road and seized control of the funds. James Zhong, identified as the Silk Road hacker by Cointelegraph, was subsequently sentenced to a year in federal prison.
In July, about 9,825.25 BTC worth approximately $299 million and connected to Silk Road was moved via several transactions conducted by a cryptocurrency wallet linked to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). The movements of these funds have garnered close attention from crypto analysts due to potential market repercussions from a substantial sale by the U.S. government.