The United States Supreme Court has denied Battle Born Investment’s case over ownership of 69,370 Bitcoin, worth $4.38 billion, that the US seized from the dark web marketplace Silk Road.

The US Supreme Court published an order list on Oct. 7 which featured a request for review from Battle Born Investments regarding the ownership of 69,370 BTC seized from the Silk Road black market. Battle Born Investments claimed it had purchased rights to the seized Bitcoin through a bankruptcy estate. However, the firm failed to convince the courts in 2022 and again in 2023 when it appealed to acquire the BTC through a bankruptcy claim after Silk Road shut down in 2013.

The Supreme Court’s refusal to take on the case again means that the US government can now sell the seized digital assets that once belonged to Silk Road.

Upcoming Bitcoin Sales by US Marshals

In mid-August 2024, financial lawyer Scott Johnsson predicted that the US Marshals will be selling Silk Road’s Bitcoin assets soon. This prediction came after a post from Founders Fund shared data from Bitcoin explorer Tokenview, revealing that more than 19,000 BTC had been moved into a Coinbase account.

“Yes, US Marshal Service (USMS) is almost certainly selling Silk Road Bitcoin. Joey is right (at least in the present). USMS has been sending BTC to a custodial address required by the terms of the servicing agreement that USMS entered into with Coinbase in June.”

Earlier that month, a US government wallet sent 10,000 BTC to the crypto brokerage platform, Coinbase Prime. According to Arkham Intel, US authorities sent the stack of Bitcoin to a wallet named “bc1ql” two weeks prior.

Market Impact

Governments offloading large amounts of cryptocurrency have historically caused considerable market volatility. This was evident when BTC prices dropped 3.6% after the news surfaced, although the price dip began before Coinbase Prime received the seized Silk Road funds.

In July, it was reported that the US government also sent $2 billion in BTC, with the recipient believed to be Coinbase. This transfer was made not long after former president Donald Trump announced his desire to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve.

Background on Silk Road

Silk Road was an online black market and the first modern darknet market created in 2011 by Ross Ulbricht, who operated under the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts.” In October 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigation shut down the Silk Road site and arrested Ulbricht. He is currently serving a life sentence for conspiring to commit money laundering, distributing drugs, among other convictions.

In May 2024, Donald Trump pledged to release Ulbricht from prison should he win the presidency.

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