On its surface, Andy Greenburg’s new book, Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency, is a standard crime story. Fans of true crime podcasts will enjoy the crypto version and get a seat in the Federal Bureau of Investigation van as United States federal agents track down criminals through their crypto transactions. The first story recounted is that of a crooked Drug Enforcement Agency agent who stole funds from the online drug market Silk Road. It also addresses the hunt for Dread Pirate Roberts, aka Ross Ulbricht — Silk Road’s founder. Ross’ operational security …

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has announced that an individual has pled guilty to wire fraud charges connected to “unlawfully obtained” Bitcoin from the Silk Road marketplace in 2012. In a Nov. 7 announcement, the U.S. Justice Department said James Zhong pled guilty to wire fraud charges related to executing a scheme to steal roughly 50,676 Bitcoin (BTC) from Silk Road. Authorities seized the Bitcoin from Zhong’s home in the state of Georgia in November 2021, at which time the total value of the crypto was roughly $3.36 billion. “James Zhong committed wire …

After announcing the launch of his "Genesis Collection" NFT auction, Ross Ulbricht, alleged founder of dark web marketplace Silk Road, has sold his first NFT for $6.2 million or 1,446 ETH at auction. The auction kicked off at Art Basel Miami via the SuperRare platform. FreeRossDAO, the decentralized autonomous organization set up to help free Ulbricht from imprisonment, placed the winning bid. The FreeRossDAO website states that the DAO aims to “advance prison reform” and to “share Ross's work with the world and give everyone a unique opportunity to own a piece of it.” The first NFT sold, called "Perspective," …

Ross Ulbricht, founder of defunct dark web marketplace Silk Road, has created a stir by announcing he will auction off his series of nonfungible tokens (NFT) starting Dec. 2. The imprisoned early Bitcoin adopter announced via his supporter operated Twitter account on Dec. 1 his plans to auction the Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection on Superare NFT marketplace from Dec. 2-8. The collection consists of 11 works of art Ulbricht handmade, then his supporters minted into NFT form. The art was made in different stages of Ulbricht’s life from childhood up to his time in prison. The early works depict comic …

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has hired a former United States Internal Revenue Service agent to head its new intelligence division, a strong indication that the company is looking to bolster its compliance resources. Tigran Gambaryan joins Binance as vice president of global intelligence and investigations, the company announced Thursday. Binance is Gambaryan’s first private-sector employer since he joined the IRS as a special agent in September 2011. During his time at the IRS, Gambaryan investigated cases involving national security, terrorism financing, tax evasion and identity theft. He was also involved in the investigation of Silk Road, a dark web marketplace that …

A scripted TV series that's about crypto — and funded by it — is in development at Beacon Pictures, the independent production company behind “Bring It On”, and popular ABC drama “Castle.” According to Deadline Hollywood, the 10 part TV crypto-comedy series “Hold on for Dear Life” — a reference of sort to the slang term 'Hodl' — aims for principal photography to shoot in Puerto Rico from August. The show, which was created by anonymous crypto insider calling themselves ‘Suhh Toshee’, will look to reflect the lives of crypto entrepreneurs, and hopefully be funded by them. Beacon CEO Mark …

According to The Daily Beast, outgoing United States President Donald Trump is considering granting clemency to Ross Ulbricht — the founder and operator of the pioneering darknet market, Silk Road. Ulbricht was arrested in 2013 and received two life sentences without parole for non-violent offenses in 2015. The anonymous sources relied on in the report claim that the White House counsel’s office has been reviewing documents related to Ulbricht’s case, and that the president has been made aware of the situation. Two sources claim that Trump has privately expressed sympathy for Ulbricht and has considered his name for the next …

Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht’s story is coming to the silver screen in 2021 following an announcement from major entertainment company Lionsgate. According to Deadline, Lionsgate has acquired the rights to the Silk Road movie and plans to release the feature in theaters and online starting on Feb. 19. The film will reportedly be based on the 2014 Rolling Stone article Dead End on Silk Road, focusing on the lead up to Ulbricht’s arrest as the founder of the darknet marketplace. Nick Robinson, the 25-year-old American actor from Jurassic World, will portray Ulbricht, who is now 36 and serving two …

Mainstream U.S. media outlet CBS is airing a documentary tonight on the takedown of the Silk Road dark web marketplace. It features an interview with Julia Vie, former girlfriend of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht who claims 'Dread Pirate Roberts' wasn’t motivated by money — to the point where he didn't even own a car — and that he was not a drug pusher. In 2015 Ulbricht was found guilty of charges including aiding and abetting the distribution of narcotics, fraudulent ID trafficking, and money laundering in 2015 and received two life sentences plus 40 years. There are calls for …

Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Editor's note Are you over the election? I’m over the election. But you can bet that as soon as I finish writing this week’s Law Decoded, I will compulsively check up on what’s happening in Georgia and Pennsylvania. And it seems that I’m not alone. Despite the election highjacking the entire news cycle, crypto has not been completely left in the corner. Likely most notable, Bitcoin is hitting highs it hasn’t seen since January 2018. Given that BTC price typically reacts …

In a filing on Thursday, the United States Department of Justice asked to seize $1 billion from an unnamed hacker. Specifically, the DoJ is asking the court of the Northern District of California to lock down on "approximately 69,370.22491543 Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Gold (BTG), Bitcoin SV (BSV), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), obtained from 1HQ3Go3ggs8pFnXuHVHRytPCq5fGG8Hbh." The court document did not identify the person behind the wallet, instead referring to them as "Individual X," but it does allege that they managed to hack Silk Road and steal the crypto, much to the chagrin of Ross Ulbricht. The hacker apparently already agreed to sign …

An anonymous crypto user has just moved 69,370 Bitcoin from an address associated with the Silk Road darknet market that more recently has become a popular hacking target. According to a Nov. 3 report from crypto intelligence firm CipherTrace, the recent movement involving two transactions adding up to 69,370 Bitcoin (BTC) — or more than $960 million at the time of publication — originated from an address connected with the Silk Road marketplace shut down in 2013. The crypto user first sent 1 BTC — likely as a test transaction — before moving the bulk of the coins. CipherTrace speculated …