Silk Road Wallets Allegedly Connected to Ross Ulbricht Move Millions in Bitcoin
Analysis
Price Impact
LowMovement of 33.7 btc (~$3m) from alleged silk road wallets is a small amount relative to bitcoin's daily trading volume and market cap, limiting direct price influence. while historically significant, the quantity moved is minor.
Trustworthiness
HighInformation is sourced from reputable crypto news outlet decrypt, citing blockchain intelligence firm arkham intelligence and on-chain analyst conor grogan, based on public blockchain data.
Price Direction
NeutralThe movement of dormant coins from a historically significant source could imply potential selling pressure if the intent is to liquidate. however, the amount is too small to definitively signal a strong bearish or bullish trend, and the reason for the movement is unclear.
Time Effect
ShortAny market reaction due to the news cycle surrounding this specific transaction would likely be temporary. the long-term impact of this relatively small movement on btc's overall price trajectory is negligible.
Original Article:
Article Content:
In brief Bitcoin wallets labeled as belonging to Silk Road moved around $3 million in BTC on Tuesday. The wallets are allegedly connected to Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht. Ulbricht was pardoned by President Trump in January after serving more than a decade in prison. Decrypt’s Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub. Discover SCENE A cluster of wallets labeled with connections to shuttered dark web marketplace Silk Road—and allegedly tied to pardoned platform creator Ross Ulbricht — were active for the first time in at least five years on Tuesday, sending millions of dollars' worth of Bitcoin to a fresh wallet address. Labeled by blockchain intelligence firm Arkham Intelligence , the wallets once held as much as 442,000 BTC in 2012. Now they are down to around 416 Bitcoin valued at $38.25 million, based on today’s Bitcoin prices. On Tuesday, the labeled wallets—at least one of which was connected to Ulbricht by Coinbase director and on-chain analyst Conor Grogan in January—sent 33.7 BTC valued around $3 million to a new address ending in “z7ga54.” Grogan’s assessment at the time highlighted the wallet ending in “WoPx1” that contains around 90 BTC, worth nearly $9 million, and is included in the Silk Road cluster labeled by Arkham. The wallet has not made a transaction in at least 14 years. Along with the “WoPx1” wallet, Grogan said he connected around 430 BTC across dozens of wallets linked to Ulbricht, adding that while their holdings were “probably dust” 14 years ago, they’ve now grown to sizable sums with Bitcoin’s rise in value. I found ~430 BTC across dozens of wallets associated with Ross Ulbricht that were not confiscated by the USGovt and have been untouched for 13+ years Back then these were probably dust wallets, now, collectively, they are worth about $47M. Welcome back Ross pic.twitter.com/KmCp4xcrI7 — Conor (@jconorgrogan) January 22, 2025 “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,” Grogan posted in a January reply to his findings. While reasons for Tuesday’s transactions are not immediately clear, if they are in fact connected to the defunct darknet exchange, then they could still be potentially seized by the federal government, according to one expert who spoke to Decrypt about the subject in January . Around that time, a U.S. court approved the sale of $6.5 billion worth of Bitcoin that had been previously seized from Silk Road. Ulbricht, who was imprisoned for more than a decade for charges including conspiracy to traffic narcotics and money laundering, was granted a full and unconditional pardon by President Donald Trump in January. He thanked the Bitcoin community for standing behind him when speaking a few months later at the Bitcoin 2025 conference. Daily Debrief Newsletter Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more. Your Email Get it! Get it!