Coinbase director Conor Grogan says Bitcoin wallets left behind by Ross Ulbricht when he was imprisoned for his underground online marketplace Silk Road are still holding tens of millions of dollars worth of BTC.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned Ulbricht, who had been serving a life sentence for running Silk Road which facilitated the anonymous sale of illegal drugs and illicit goods using Bitcoin as a method of payment.
Ulbricht was arrested in 2013 and sentenced in 2015.
The US government seized tens of thousands of Bitcoin tied to Silk Road, but Grogan says they weren’t able to get their hands on 100% of the coins.
“I found ~430 BTC across dozens of wallets associated with Ross Ulbricht that were not confiscated by the US government and have been untouched for 13-plus years Back then these were probably dust wallets, now, collectively, they are worth about $47 million. Welcome back Ross.”
However, Grogan casts doubt on whether Ulbricht can gain access to the Bitcoin in the wallets.
“Unlikely if he has the keys still stored down anywhere, I guess I we will know soon enough!”
He notes the addresses were identified from court documents, among other sources.
“Not going to share the addresses, but all of them are public (cited in trial docs or directly adjacent) and tracked already by multiple sources.”
Ulbricht received a double life sentence plus 40 years without the possibility of parole, which was significantly harsher than many individuals who sold illicit goods on Silk Road or similar platforms.
President Trump issued Ulbricht an unconditional pardon and provided a statement on Truth Social.
“I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross. The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!”
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