Blockchain analytics and intelligence company, Ciphertrace published a report today to identify a massive transaction on the Bitcoin network that involves the movement of $1 billion of Bitcoin from the Silk Road darknet market for the first time since April 2015. According to the report, an anonymous user moved 69,370 Bitcoin from an address associated with one of the first darknet markets, Silk Road. Ciphertrace speculated that the new transaction was most likely to be conducted to switch between old and new address formats.
“The wallet could have been cracked by hackers.”
The company did not rule out the possibility of hacking as well while providing details about the speculation of a possible hack, Ciphertrace mentioned: “While it is most probable that these transactions were made to stay up to date with the Bitcoin network, there is also some speculation that hackers could have cracked the wallet.” These movements could also mean that the wallet owner is moving funds to new addresses to prevent hackers from accessing the wallet.dat file or that hackers have already cracked the file.” The blockchain analytical firm further added that it is monitoring the addresses for any other movement.
The founder of Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, is behind bars.
Silk Road was an online black market, and the first darknet market, a platform best known for selling illegal drugs. In February 2011, the platform became a hub for buying and selling illicit goods such as weapons and stolen credit card information. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Silk Road was used by thousands of drug dealers to distribute illicit drugs and services to more than 100,000 buyers. In 2013, the FBI closed the website and arrested the founder of the website, Ross Ulbricht. Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
