The BBC is reporting that U.S. authorities have seized $28 million in bitcoin from online purchase site, Silk Road. The site had already been shut down for being a hub of illegal commerce, dealing frequently in illegal products. Bitcoin, a virtual currency, was used on Silk Road because it was less traceable, and therefore better suited for an online black market.
But though the currency’s existence is legally dubious, prosecutors say the bitcoin was seized because it is evidence of a crime.
From the BBC…
“These Bitcoins were forfeited not because they are Bitcoins, but
because they were, as the court found, the proceeds of crimes,” he [US prosecutor Preet Bharara] said.
Authorities also seized around $130 million in bitcoins from the site’s alleged owner, Ross William Ulbricht.
Read the full story here.
