Analytics firm Coinfirm says the US Department of Justice (DOJ)’s seizure of digital assets associated with the now-defunct Silk Road left behind tokens worth millions of dollars. According to Coinfirm, there are still valuable balances held on forked addresses originating from that wallet.
On November 5, the DOJ announced that a hacker known as Individual X had cooperated with law enforcement and agreed to relinquish control of over $1 billion worth of bitcoins. At the time of the seizure of the 69,370 BTC, news.Bitcoin.com reported the DOJ confirming that 1HQ3-the address that was controlled by Individual X also contained approximately 69,370 BCH, BTG, and BSV.
However, in its update following “a self-funded investigation”, the analytics firm says the US “government seemingly overlooked and left it in the hands of whoever has access to the private keys of the main wallet.” While Coinfirm is claiming that funds worth millions of dollars are still outstanding, the firm has so far only released information on tokens whose total value does not exceed $1 million.
According to the investigation, the following digital assets were left behind by the DOJ:
- 693701 Bitcoin Diamond (“BCD”), which is presently worth approximately 310,000 USD.
- 69370 Super Bitcoin (“SBTC”), which is presently worth approximately 66,000 USD.
- 69370.11453606 Bitcoin Private (“BTCP”), which is presently worth approximately 11,000 USD.
After cooperating with US authorities “Individual X walked away from the incident without facing any criminal charges” according to Coinfirm. It remains to be seen if this latest revelation (if confirmed true) is going to result in changes to Individual X’s deal.
Meanwhile, Coinfirm claims that its cryptographic tracing efforts have identified dozens of cases in which law enforcement authorities may have unknowingly left substantial funds accessible to suspects instead of properly accounting for and seizing those assets.
Do you agree with Coinfirm that the DOJ left tokens worth millions of dollars after the Silk Road seizure? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
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