So much for Bitcoin being a protection against the government.
The U.S. government seized an unprecedented $1 billion worth of bitcoin linked to Silk Road, which the government alleges was run by Ross Ulbricht, who is now serving life in prison after being convicted of running the operation.
The "Justice" Department said it was the largest seizure of cryptocurrency in the history of the agency.
According to CNBC, this week, London-based blockchain analysis firm Elliptic said that it picked up on the massive movement of bitcoin spurred by the DOJ. The company reported 69,369 bitcoins — worth about $1 billion — had been moved out of a bitcoin wallet, which had the fourth-highest balance of any in the world.
As I have stressed, Bitcoin is an extremely trackable method of exchange.
This DOJ grab is proof of that.
CNBC notes:
U.S. agencies were able to track down those illicit funds through a unit within the IRS that specializes in tracing virtual currency transactions. The IRS agents were able to identify 54 new bitcoin transactions executed by the Silk Road, which appear to be proceeds of some of that illegal activity, the complaint said. The agency was then able to trace that money to a specific bitcoin address that appeared to have hacked the bitcoin funds from the Silk Road.
-RW