TL;DR
- A wallet linked to AlphaBay transferred 300 Bitcoin to Ross Ulbricht, and the transaction was tracked by Chainalysis.
- ZachXBT confirmed the funds didn’t originate from Silk Road and detected the use of centralized mixers and split withdrawals to conceal their illicit origin.
- The transfer took place months after Ulbricht’s pardon and reignited attention on dark web funds that had remained dormant since 2017.
A transfer of 300 Bitcoin, worth $31 million, has once again put Ross Ulbricht in the spotlight. The donation, sent to his official wallet in early June, was traced by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, which identified the source as an old wallet tied to AlphaBay, one of the largest dark web markets between 2014 and 2017.
Phil Larratt, director of investigations at Chainalysis, explained that the size of the funds suggests the sender was a major vendor on AlphaBay during its early years. These funds wouldn’t be connected to Silk Road, the marketplace Ulbricht founded and that was shut down in 2013, but rather capital that had likely remained idle since AlphaBay’s illegal operations prior to its takedown in 2017.
The Bitcoin Didn’t Come From Silk Road
Analyst ZachXBT backed the investigation. He confirmed that the Bitcoin didn’t come from Silk Road and identified movement patterns typical of illicit funds. The donor used centralized mixers instead of decentralized tools like Wasabi or the now-defunct Samourai. Additionally, they split withdrawals across multiple exchanges to make tracing harder and avoid potential freezes.
This behavior suggests a deliberate effort to erase the origin trail, even though the transfer was sent publicly to Ulbricht’s donation wallet. ZachXBT described the operation as a legitimate donation carried out with funds tainted by their origin.
Chainalysis’ History With AlphaBay
Chainalysis’ involvement in this case brings to mind its role in “Operation Bayonet,” the international investigation that dismantled AlphaBay after linking Bitcoin addresses to its administrators and top vendors. Any amount of Bitcoin held since then would have increased in value more than fortyfold.
The motive behind the transfer remains unknown, and the sender’s identity hasn’t been revealed. It’s worth noting that this episode comes just months after Ulbricht received a pardon from Donald Trump in January, following 12 years in prison and an original sentence of life without parole plus 40 years
