Ross Ulbricht
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US authorities seize $1 billion worth of Silk Road Bitcoin
As the Wall Street Journal notes, they only managed to seize 175,000 Bitcoins from Ulbricht back then, which is less than half of the 600,000 Bitcoins they believe the website generated in commissions.
Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht sentenced to life in prison
Despite Ross Ulbricht's emotional plea for leniency in court today, Judge Katherine Forrest has sentenced him to life in prison. He was facing a minimum of 20 years up to the maximum life sentence after he was found guilty of money laundering, narcotics trafficking and computer hacking. Under the pseudonym "Dread Pirate Roberts," Ulbricht was the czar of Silk Road, an online drug marketplace that netted him an $18 million fortune. It was anonymized by the Tor network and used Bitcoins to hide transactions.
Silk Road Survival: In conversation with 'Deep Web' director Alex Winter
An unassuming, Mormon family man. A brilliant physics and engineering student with a goofy smile. Five years ago, neither of these men knew each other, let alone suspected that they'd be drawn into a web suffused with libertarian dogma, hard drugs and the sort of rhetorical dedication that allegedly drove that student -- Ross Ulbricht -- to order a hit on that family man. That's the weighty world that digital documentarian Alex Winter set out to explore in his new film, Deep Web. By his own admission, the documentary -- which first appeared at SXSW in March and hits Epix on May 31st -- can't tell the whole story of the Silk Road, an anonymous bazaar of hallucinogens, hitmen and, really, whatever you were looking for. Ulbricht is still behind bars after being found guilty of all seven charges leveled at him earlier this year, which included narcotics trafficking, computer hacking and money laundering. One even crowned him a "kingpin," and stuck him with the punishment attached to the title. While he and the rest of us wait to see what his sentencing holds, though, Deep Web acts as an important crash course in the events that led to all this. We spoke to director Winter to understand how and why he put the story together on film.
US to begin selling off its Silk Road Bitcoin hoard
When the FBI seized Silk Road and the assets of its founder, it inadvertently became the owner of one of the world's largest Bitcoin hoards. Just six months later, the US has decided that it wants to sell the smaller, Silk Road-owned portion of the stash, made up of 30,000 BTC worth around $18 million. The public auction will take place between 6am and 6pm on June 27th, with the funds being broken down into blocks of 3,000 BTC to make it a little more manageable. If, however, you fancied getting in on the action, be advised that you'll have to front a deposit of $200,000 just to be allowed in. Still, if it'll take you a bit longer to scrounge up that level of cash, the US will also look to sell off Ross "Dread Pirate Roberts" Ulbricht's personal Bitcoin fortune -- currently valued at around $87 million -- before his trial begins in November.
US Government now owns Silk Road's $25 million Bitcoin hoard
If we're honest, asset seizures are inherently hilarious. After all, for every sports car that's flogged to boost the public purse, there must be an unsaleable giant mechanical heron just gathering dust in a federal warehouse. After shutting down Silk Road, the US has now gained a slightly more useful treasure for its collection: 29,665 in Bitcoin, currently worth around $25 million. The celebrations won't begin just yet, however, since Ross "Dread Pirate Roberts" Ulbricht, Silk Road's alleged founder, is claiming that a further 144,336 BTC (around $120 million) found on his personal computers are not the proceeds of crime, and therefore cannot be seized. What happens to the cash now? It'll go into the pockets of the US Marshals, with some of the cash probably going to pay off the storage costs for that giant mechanical heron.
