Scott Johnson, general partner and general counsel at Van Buren Capital, believes the U.S. government’s recent move to move bitcoin linked to the now-defunct Silk Road online marketplace to a Coinbase address means the funds are about to be sold.
In an August 16 post on X, the financial lawyer suggested that there was a strong possibility that the U.S. Marshals Service, the agency imposed It was likely that someone, trying to get rid of confiscated digital assets seized from criminal activities, would sell the Bitcoin (BTC) seized from the Silk Road marketplace.
Johnson was responding to a post from Founders Fund co-founder Joey Krug, who shared data from Bitcoin explorer Tokenview showing more than 19,000 BTC had been transferred to a Coinbase account. The lawyer appeared to agree with Krug’s assertion that the coins were remaining Silk Road inventory that had not yet been sold.
Johnson’s confirmation comes shortly after the U.S. government moved nearly $594 million in bitcoin seized from Silk Road to a Coinbase Prime address, according to Data From Arkham Intelligence.
Silk Road founder Ross William Ulbricht was arrested shortly after the market closed in 2013.
The original site’s administrators then launched a new site, Silk Road 2.0, but it was also shut down by a special police task force in 2014.
According to Johnson, USMS transferred the assets to the custodial address in accordance with the applicable service agreement with Coinbase that was entered into in June.
The lawyer alleged that the agreement required USMS assets to remain completely segregated, with any transfers to mixed exchange addresses like Coinbase Prime meaning the agency was likely preparing to sell off BTC assets.
In his post, the lawyer shared footage from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General. a reportwhich showed that the U.S. Naval Service’s Complex Assets Unit was required to liquidate assets within five business days after they were seized.
Johnson expects formal confirmation of the sale could come with the Justice Department’s FY 2024 Asset Forfeiture Program Report, due in January 2025.
Interestingly, he noted that the USMS move to divest Silk Road Bitcoin came after former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s recent speech in which he promised not to sell any government-held Bitcoin if he wins a second term.
The United States reportedly holds about $12 billion worth of Bitcoin, making it the largest government holder of the cryptocurrency, which currently has a market cap of $1.17 trillion.
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