Hundreds of bitcoin wallets associated with the now-defunct Silk Road darknet marketplace became active on Tuesday for the first time in over a decade, transferring $3.14 million worth of bitcoin to an unidentified address.
Silk Road wallets suddenly awaken
Arkham Intelligence data revealed that approximately 312 wallets linked to Silk Road collectively moved the funds into the address beginning with “bc1q…ga54.”
The reason for this coordinated activity remains unknown.
As of today, these wallets still contain about $41.3 million in bitcoin, according to Arkham’s estimates.
Previous findings and ongoing monitoring
In January, Coinbase Director Conor Grogan noted he had identified roughly $47 million in bitcoin in wallets tied to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht.
On Tuesday, Grogan resurfaced his earlier assessment in response to the latest flagged movements, which were brought to broader attention by Plasma Foundation’s pseudonymous operator “0xG00gly.”
Ulbricht’s pardon and Silk Road’s legacy
Earlier in 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order granting a full and unconditional pardon to Ulbricht, who had been serving multiple life sentences without parole for creating Silk Road.
While Silk Road facilitated the trade of illegal goods, it played a pivotal role in the early adoption of bitcoin as a payment method.
In May, Ulbricht gave his first public speech since his release, highlighting themes of freedom, decentralization, and unity as fundamental to technological progress.
He emphasized the potential for technology to “liberate and empower people around the world.”
