Ross Ulbricht’s Wallets Hold $47M in Untouched Bitcoin: Coinbase Exec Reveals

BItcoin

In a surprising development, a Coinbase executive has identified several Bitcoin wallets reportedly linked to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the infamous Silk Road marketplace. These wallets, untouched for over 13 years, hold approximately 430 Bitcoin, now valued at around $47 million. The revelation comes shortly after Ulbricht’s release from prison on January 21, 2025, following a full pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Conor Grogan, Coinbase’s director of product strategy, shared his findings on X (formerly Twitter), stating that dozens of wallets associated with Ulbricht had been uncovered. These wallets, once holding what would have been considered negligible amounts of Bitcoin, have grown significantly in value due to Bitcoin’s meteoric rise.

“I found around 430 BTC across dozens of wallets linked to Ross Ulbricht that were not confiscated by the U.S. government. Back then, these were likely ‘dust wallets,’ but now they collectively hold about $47 million,” Grogan noted.

Ross Ulbricht, who was arrested in 2013 and sentenced to two life terms plus 40 years in 2015 for charges including operating a criminal enterprise and money laundering, had used Bitcoin as the primary currency on Silk Road’s darknet marketplace. While authorities seized a staggering 174,000 BTC in 2013, smaller wallets like these appear to have been overlooked.

One of the identified wallets contains 88.77 BTC, valued at over $9.4 million. Interestingly, these wallets also hold assets like Bitcoin Cash (BCH) from the 2017 hard fork. However, Grogan speculated that Ulbricht might not have access to the private keys, making it unlikely he could retrieve the funds.

Ulbricht’s recent pardon, a campaign promise fulfilled by President Trump on his first full day in office, has sparked renewed interest in his story and the Bitcoin legacy of Silk Road. The discovery of these untouched wallets adds another layer of intrigue to the already complex narrative surrounding cryptocurrency’s early days.

Despite the controversy, this development serves as a reminder of Bitcoin’s extraordinary journey from being a niche digital currency to becoming a multi-trillion-dollar asset class, transforming lives and rewriting financial history along the way.

bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 96,100.75
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,620.82
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 2.41
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 195.39
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 637.74
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.253625
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.769957
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,617.54
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.239521
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 95,944.71
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 18.61
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,106.58
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 25.20
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.27
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.316414
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 3.73
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000016
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 9.84
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 117.07
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.223935
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00
hyperliquid
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 23.77
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 2,613.30
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 4.82
bitget-token
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 6.06
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 330.55
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 0.999862
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 5.94
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 9.49
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,768.56
ondo-finance
Ondo (ONDO) $ 1.34
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 221.93
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000010
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 27.41
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 3.21
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 244.07
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.999972
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 1.02
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 7.07
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 5.90
susds
sUSDS (SUSDS) $ 1.04
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 395.81
official-trump
Official Trump (TRUMP) $ 15.40
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 20.37
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 49.91
gatechain-token
Gate (GT) $ 22.16
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.033046
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.308869