$31M Bitcoin Windfall Linked to Silk Road Founder Tied to Dark Web Empire
An anonymous $31 million Bitcoin donation to Ross Ulbricht—the jailed Silk Road mastermind—has been traced back to an AlphaBay wallet, resurrecting ghosts of crypto's wild west era.
Dark web dominoes: The transaction fuels speculation about underground alliances—or a calculated PR stunt. Either way, it's a stark reminder that crypto never truly forgets.
Wall Street bankers clutching their pearls: Imagine if compliance teams had to track payments this transparently. (They'd need stronger martinis.)
The recent $31 million Bitcoin donation to Ross Ulbricht, the once-imprisoned founder of Silk Road, has stunned the crypto world. Investigators now say the funds are likely tied to, another infamous, reviving concerns over.
Tracing the Bitcoin: Alphabay Connection
According to a, blockchain analytics firmtraced the donation—over—to a wallet associated with Alphabay. The firm suspects the sender may have been a, although their identity remains unknown.
Phil Larratt, Director at Chainalysis, noted that the funds were likely moved throughto obscure their origin before reaching Ulbricht’s donation address.
ZachXBT Confirms Use of Mixing Services
Independent blockchain investigatorsupported these claims, highlighting the use of common obfuscation tactics:
- Multiple crypto mixers
- Small, staggered cash-outs
- Transfers via various centralized exchanges
One of the mixing tools used in this case was identified as, a centralized crypto mixer known for helping disguise illicit fund trails.
Alphabay and Its Dark Legacy
gained notoriety as the largest darknet market followingin 2013. It was taken down duringin 2017, a coordinated global effort involving law enforcement agencies and blockchain experts, including Chainalysis.
Both Alphabay and Silk Road were known for enabling illegal activities such as drug sales and money laundering using, especially Bitcoin.
Ross Ulbricht’s Controversial Legacy
, creator of Silk Road, was convicted in 2015 and sentenced to. However, in a dramatic turn of events, he wason.
The recent bitcoin donation suggests that, despite being behind bars for nearly a decade.
What This Means for Crypto Regulation
The incident underscores the ongoingbetween law enforcement and darknet-linked crypto actors. It also highlights the persistent, especially with the rise ofand privacy tools.
