DOJ Seizes $3.6 Billion Worth Bitcoin Stolen From Silk Road in 2013

November 8, 2022

IRS seized $3.36 billion worth of bitcoins from a Silk Road hacker.

Defendant James Zhong pleaded guilty for committing wire fraud back in September 2012.

The DOJ has announced a seizure of $3.36 billion in bitcoin stolen a decade ago from illegal Silk Road marketplace, which the FBI shut down in 2013.

This is the federal government’s second-largest seizure of cryptocurrency.

Zhong's plea comes approximately one year after the DOJ seized the currency from his home in Georgia.

The maximum potential sentence for this crime is 20 years in prison.

The Silk Road was an illegal marketplace on the darknet that operated between 2011 and 2013 and that primarily used bitcoin as a method of payment.