$3.36 Billion in Bitcoin Seized, Tied to Silk Road Web Fraud

James Zhong has pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud in order to steal 51,680.32473733 BTC from Silk Road, per Bitcoin Magazine. 

U.S. Attorney, Damian Williams said it was over a decade ago when James Zhong stole approximately 50,000 Bitcoin. “For almost ten years, the whereabouts of this massive chunk of missing Bitcoin had ballooned into an over $3.3 billion mystery.”

Silk Road was a dark web internet marketplace created to buy and sell drugs and other illicit products with cryptocurrency. According to CNBC, “Silk Road was launched in 2011, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation shut it down in 2013. Its founder, Ross William Ulbricht, is now serving a life sentence in prison.”

Zhong committed the crime in September of 2012. Bitcoin Magazine reported, “Zhong executed a successful wire fraud attempt by creating at least nine fake accounts which simultaneously launched the Silk Road withdrawal process creating over 140 transactions in rapid succession. The bitcoin was dispersed into multiple accounts which was then transferred to multiple addresses, or bitcoin wallets.” 

Zhong will be sentenced in February 2023.