The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has received a go-ahead to sell off 69,000 BTC worth $6.5 Billion which was seized from Silk Road. As announced by DB News on Jan. 9, 2025, a federal judge issued the liquidation greenlight to DOJ on Dec.30, 2024.
This liquidation greenlight comes after a long legal battle and is set to be the largest one in history. Because of this, the clearance could highly affect crypto market stability and the cryptocurrency regulatory framework. Additionally, the United States is just two weeks away from a new administration that is very pro-crypto and promised to not sell BTC
Background of the 69K Silk Road Bitcoin Seizure
The Us government initially seized the Bitcoin in question from an individual who was identified as “individual X.” US had a motion to liquidate the crypto which Individual X had stolen from Silk Road. However, Battle Born Investments opposed the motion claiming to be the owners of the Bitcoin through a default estate.
Nonetheless, the firm’s efforts to stall the liquidation of the BTC stash have been unsuccessful. The Supreme Court dismissed the firm’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case for Individual X’s identity revelation. This has allowed the BTC seizure by the DOJ to be valid, further clearing the path for liquidation of the Bitcoin in question.
However, Battle Born Investments was not content with the court’s decision to deny the appeal. In relation to the FOIA case, the attorney representing Battle Born said that DOJ used procedural trickery to make sure that the truth would never come out.
Despite the discontentment, a DOJ spokesperson stated that the US government will proceed as per the judgement of the case. But, the US Marshals Service will be in charge of overseeing the BTC liquidation.
BTC’s Price Amid Silk Road DOJ BTC Liquidation News
Upon announcement of the news, the price of Bitcoin is facing a dip indicating some volatility although short-term. According to Coinmarketcap, Bitcoin is currently trading at $93,463.44.63 marking a 1.61% dip since the Thursday trading session kicked off.
BTC has recorded $63.22B in trading volume in the last 24 hours, showing a 6% decline. Its market capitalization stands at $1.85 trillion with 21 Million BTC in circulation.
Investors are currently facing a lot of uncertainty hence the drop in Bitcoin’s price. However, moving forward various factors like the second inauguration of Donald Trump as the US president could impact the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies positively.
Crypto Community’s Reaction
Silk Road’s 69K BTC liquidation news has resulted in various perspectives from prominent figures in the crypto sector. The CEO of CryptoQuant, Ki Young Ju, for instance has requested the investors to not panic.
Backing his “Do not panic” statement, Young stated; “Last year, $379B entered the market based on realized cap – roughly $1B per day. The U.S. govt selling $6.5B could be absorbed in just a week.” Young’s statement has indicated that the market is capable of handling the liquidation without much impact.
There is also a heated debate about whether the $69K Bitcoin are available. Some crypto community members are even arguing that the BTC were already sold. A post on X by a crypto enthusiast (@trading_axe) with 85.2K followers, for instance, boldly stated “there is no Bitcoin left to sell.”
However, the 69,000 Bitcoins are still in the FBI wallet as indicated by Blockchain.com. The wallet address clearly indicates that the coins were recovered from Individual X who stole the coins from Silk Road. Based on the substantial amount of BTC be liquidated, how and when the sale will occur might lead to price volatility and massive market disruption.
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