The Justice Department said it was seeking the forfeiture of the cryptocurrency, which had been in the possession of an unnamed hacker who stole them from the website. It is the largest cryptocurrency seizure ever made by the US government, as the department said.
The government will now try to prove in court the items are subject to forfeiture. In the past, the government has later auctioned off forfeited cryptocurrency. Silk Road was seized by the government in 2013, with officials describing the underground website as a large illegal drug and money laundering marketplace.
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