The founding father of the darknet market Silk Street, Ross Ulbricht, acquired 300 BTC, value round $31.4 million, in a single donation from an unknown pockets, information from Arkham Intelligence reveals.
Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in jail, acquired a full and unconditional pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump on January 21. He was launched following the pardon after serving 12 years in jail.
Blockchain information additional signifies that Ulbricht transferred the acquired funds on June 1, sending $31.29 million to at least one handle and $10,000.43 to a different.
The newest donation quantity far exceeds these Ulbricht acquired after his launch. A pockets operated by the Free Ross marketing campaign bagged $270,000 value of Bitcoin inside days after he was freed. The funds had been donated to “assist Ross’s transition into his new life.”
Ulbricht’s private gadgets have fetched $1.8 million in an public sale to this point
The above transactions occurred after Ulbricht had already secured $1.8 million from his ongoing public sale of non-public gadgets. The public sale, which is stay until June 2, is being performed on the Bitcoin-only market Scarce Metropolis.
In a observe on Scarce Metropolis, Ulbricht wrote:
“I’ve determined to public sale some private gadgets from earlier than my arrest and through my time in jail. I don’t want the reminders, and I’m certain a few of you’ll like to have them.”
The private gadgets up for public sale embrace a sleeping bag and backpack from earlier than his arrest, jail ID playing cards, and work he created throughout his incarceration.
Ulbricht’s most up-to-date jail ID card was bought for five.5 BTC, value over $580,000, after the successful bid of 11 BTC (value roughly $1.1 million) was not paid.
In keeping with the merchandise’s description, Ulbricht needed to have his ID reissued with a latest photograph in 2024 after a jail guard threatened to droop his visitation rights. Speaking concerning the ID photograph, which depicts Ulbricht smiling, he famous:
“The guard tried to get me to cease smiling for the photograph, however my pleasure comes from inside, so I smiled that day, though I used to be in jail :)”
A December 2023 oil portray entitled ‘Archway,’ which Ulbricht created in collaboration with a fellow inmate who goes by Omega, was bought for 1.01 BTC, value over $106,000. The merchandise’s description famous that Omega had taught Ulbricht oil portray strategies. He wrote:
“I beloved the look of this archway in {a photograph} a lot, I needed to paint it. It gave me the sensation that, if I might go by it, one thing higher can be on the opposite aspect.”
Ulbricht can entry tens of millions of {dollars} value of dormant BTC
Along with the big sums Ulbricht has racked up in donations, he may additionally have entry to tens of millions of {dollars} value of BTC that had been by no means seized by the U.S. authorities. Through the 2013 Silk Street bust, the federal government had seized over 100,000 BTC.
On Jan. 22, Coinbase director Conor Grogan discovered 430 BTC, value round $47 million, throughout a number of wallets linked to Ulbricht. These wallets had been mendacity dormant for over 13 years, Grogan famous.
Grogan’s discovery was confirmed by Arkham Intelligence, which traced 14 Bitcoin wallets linked to Silk Street, certainly one of which comprises BTC value $9 million.
Earlier final month, two of those dormant wallets turned energetic, transferring 3,422 BTC value $324.2 million.
