Visual introduction of digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
Yu Chun Christopher Wong | S3 Studio | Getty Images
According to London-based blockchain analysis firm Elliptic, Bitcoin, valued at about 1 1 billion, is moving ahead with potential ties to the Silk Road online online black market.
The Silk Road was closed by U.S. federal officials in 2013, when its creator, Ross Ulbricht, was sentenced to life in prison two years later. The site, hidden as part of the Dark Web, allowed people to sell drugs and other illicit goods.
Elliptic, the company that monitors the movement of dirty money in the cryptocurrency sector, said Wednesday it has taken over the transaction of funds believed to have arisen from the site.
The company said that today, according to Syndesk, 50,950 million worth of 69,969 bitcoins have been moved out of one of the lattes, which has the fourth highest balance globally.
It added that an encrypted file circulating among hackers allegedly contained passcodes needed to withdraw bitcoins from the wallet.
“The movement of these bitcoins today … could introduce Albright or the Silk Road seller to move their funds,” says Top Robinson, co-founder and chief scientist at Elliptic, in a blog post. “Nevertheless, it seems unlikely that Ulbright will be able to make a bitcoin transaction from prison.”
“Alternatively, the encrypted wallet file may be real, and the password is now cracked – allowing bitcoins to be moved.”
Although the Federal Bureau of Investigations seized 174,000 bitcoins from Ul Librekt, Robinson said a further 440,000 bitcoins were recovered from the Silk Road Commission. “There has always been a suspicion that the revenue of the Silk Road could remain in the currency,” he said.
The FBI was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
Bitcoin has been in tears since 2020, with year-over-year growth of 91% as large companies like PayPal and Facebook show interest in cryptocurrencies. But its use in criminal activities such as money laundering has also been targeted by regulators and bankers.
A competitor called Elliptic and Channelisis has tried to bring some legitimacy to the cryptocurrency industry by selling analytical tools that could block virtual currency exchanges and potentially suspicious transactions to banks.
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