Key Takeaways
- The US government moved $4M in seized Bitcoin.
- The Bitcoin was originally seized from Ryan Farace, a dark web drug dealer.
- The US government holds about $15 billion in cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin seized by the U.S. in 2021 from a man convicted of selling Xanax on the dark web is on the move. Here’s what we know.
Just days after Germany announced nearly $2.9 billion from a sale of seized Bitcoin, the U.S. government has transferred some of its own seized Bitcoin, though it’s unclear if a sale is planned.
On-chain data from Arkham Intelligence shows that on Monday afternoon, the U.S. government moved just shy of $4 million worth of Bitcoin (58.742 BTC) to an unlabeled wallet. The original wallet is now empty.
It’s uncertain if the government is moving the Bitcoin to sell it or simply managing its funds by transferring to another wallet. The funds were seized from Ryan Farace, who was convicted in 2018 for selling Xanax on the dark web under the alias Xanaxman. Initially, he forfeited just 24 BTC, claiming he couldn’t access further funds.
While serving his prison sentence, Farace was convicted again for directing his father, Joseph Farace, to transfer 2,874 BTC to a third party outside the U.S. The DOJ successfully recovered 2,933 BTC from the Farace family and announced plans to sell the seized Bitcoin in January.
The amount moved represents a small portion of the total seized. The DOJ press release from January stated:
On May 11, 2021, the government seized 58.742155166 Bitcoin that was also proceeds of R. Farace’s drug trafficking.
The U.S. government still holds approximately $15 billion worth of cryptocurrency, with nearly $14.6 billion in Bitcoin.
Decrypt reached out to both Arkham and the DOJ for comments on the Bitcoin transfer but has not received a response.
