The U.S. government could liquidate one of the largest bitcoin seizures in history following the Supreme Court’s decision not to review the case.
On October 7, the Supreme Court of the United States opened the possibility for the American government to sell the 69,370 bitcoins seized from the darknet market Silk Road.
The decision comes after a lengthy legal battle involving Battle Born Investments, a company that claimed rights to the seized bitcoins through a bankruptcy proceeding. The company argued that Raymond Ngan, the bankruptcy debtor, was actually the mysterious “Individual X” who had illegally taken the bitcoins from Silk Road before they were seized by federal authorities.
However, in 2022, a federal court in California rejected Battle Born’s claims, finding no convincing evidence that Ngan was indeed “Individual X”. The decision was later upheld by a federal appeals court in San Francisco in 2023.
The Supreme Court’s refusal to review the case represents the latest chapter in this matter, leaving the American government free to dispose of the funds as it sees fit. In recent months, authorities have already made some movements: between July and August, approximately $2.6 billion in bitcoin were transferred to new wallets, likely in preparation for sale.
Recently, the management of seized bitcoins has also become a topic of political debate. Presidential candidate Donald Trump promised that, if re-elected, his administration will keep 100% of all bitcoins currently held by the US government.
