Ross Ulbricht drops bid to claim Silk Road millions

The United States government has collected $48.23 million from the sale of the Bitcoin seized from the now-defunct dark marketplace Silk Road.

In a court order last Sept. 29, U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest announced that Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht has withdrawn his claims to the Bitcoins, which means that the proceeds from its sale will be forfeited to the U.S. government.

If you recall, the U.S. Marshals Service sold more than 144,000 Bitcoins it seized from several cases involving the dark web commerce market in a series of auctions. The first auction, held in 2014, the USMS sold nearly 30,000 Bitcoins to Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper. The following year, the government emerged with $14.6 million in profit after selling 44,000 Bitcoins to 11 bidders.

The forfeited $48 million will be credited “in partial satisfaction of the Money Judgment” against Ulbricht, who was ordered to forfeit around $183 million.