The US Court of Appeals officially authorized the confiscation of 69,370 bitcoins and other cryptocurrency proceeds associated with the now-defunct dark web marketplace Silk Road. The decision, originally made in August, was formally announced this week.
Since 2020, the US Department of Justice has been seizing and seeking formal forfeiture of these cryptocurrencies, which were valued at approximately $1 billion at the time and have since tripled in value.
The confiscation of these cryptocurrencies by the US government may raise speculation about how these assets will be handled in the future. If the government chooses to sell these bitcoins, it could lead to short-term price fluctuations in the market.
