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Ross Ulbricht’s current receipt of 300 Bitcoin is from “questionable sources,” but it surely’s unlikely to be a case the place he donated it to himself, says blockchain researcher ZachXBT.
Ulbricht, who based the notorious on-line black market Silk Street, acquired 300 Bitcoin (BTC), price $31.4 million, to his pockets that was soliciting donations, Blockchain analytics agency Lookonchain said in a June 1 submit to X.
The funds got here from wallets utilizing a centralized mixing service called Jambler, which led some social media customers to take a position, with out proof, that the funds may very well be Ulbricht’s income from the Silk Street, which he may need hidden away earlier than he was nabbed by authorities and despatched to jail.
Nonetheless, ZachXBT said in a June 2 X submit that he was skeptical that that is the case as a result of “few entities recurrently use Jambler in dimension,” and he discovered “a possible demix for the donation.”
“It possible doesn’t look like a self donation as individuals had been claiming although it comes from a questionable sources as a result of flagged handle” he mentioned.
The newest Bitcoin donation came from wallets utilizing the Jambler mixing service, however “regular privateness fans use decentralized mixers,” in keeping with ZachXBT.
ZachXBT mentioned one of many addresses concerned has change exercise courting again to late 2014, whereas one other was lively in 2019 and beforehand flagged in compliance instruments.
“Each had been depositing in dimension to Jambler at related instances because the 300 BTC Ross donor acquired from Jambler. Each had dormant BTC from Nov 2019 till the mixer deposits constituted of April to Might 2025,” he mentioned.
He added in response to a consumer’s question that “Everybody was accusing Ross of a self-donation, so if something, this proves it was a donation and never his secret stash as a result of there was exercise when he was away in jail.”
Ulbricht-tied wallets nonetheless have Bitcoin
Ulbricht ran Silk Street, which used Bitcoin for its funds, till 2013 when he was arrested and sentenced to a double life sentence plus 40 years in 2015. He served 11 years behind bars earlier than US President Donald Trump pardoned him on Jan. 21.
Coinbase director Conor Grogan mentioned in January he found 430 Bitcoin, price over $45 million, in wallets he claimed had been tied to Ulbricht. According to Grogan, the wallets have been inactive for over 13 years and had been by no means seized by authorities.
Blockchain analytics agency Arkham Intelligence backed up Grogan’s evaluation, tracing 14 Bitcoin addresses linked to Silk Street, with one holding over $9 million in Bitcoin.
Associated: Ross Ulbricht calls for ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Roger Ver to be freed next
Ulbricht recently held an auction of personal belongings, which introduced in additional than $1.8 million price of Bitcoin.
The gathering included private results from earlier than his 2013 arrest, akin to a sleeping bag, backpack, a drum and jail memorabilia like a lock, pocket book, clothes and a number of other work created whereas incarcerated.
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