The ghosts of Silk Road are stirring.
Over 170 cryptocurrency addresses linked to the long-defunct darknet marketplace executed transfers totaling $3.14 million in Bitcoin on Tuesday, marking their first major activity in five years. This movement comes less than a year after President Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, Silk Road’s founder, who had been serving a life sentence.
Blockchain analytics firm Arkham tracked 176 transactions flowing from Silk Road-tagged wallets into a single unidentified address labeled bc1qn. The sending wallets still hold roughly $38.4 million in Bitcoin, while the receiving address now contains only the newly moved funds. Prior to this spike, these wallets had recorded just three minor test transactions throughout 2025.
The timing and purpose remain a mystery.
Ulbricht has not responded to inquiries regarding control over the wallets or the reason for the large-scale transfers. His pardon in January 2025 ended his double life sentence without parole, stemming from his 2015 conviction for running the darknet marketplace where Bitcoin powered anonymous trades of illicit goods.
The Free Ross campaign received about $270,000 in Bitcoin donations following the pardon, showing the community’s ongoing support. During the Silk Road investigation, federal authorities seized at least $3.36 billion in Bitcoin, though experts believe additional wallets escaped detection.
Analysis from Coinbase Director Conor Grogan revealed around 430 Bitcoin worth $47 million sitting in wallets likely connected to Ulbricht. These funds have remained untouched for over 13 years, preserving assets from Silk Road’s active period that were not seized. Another wallet holds $8.3 million and has seen only three minor test transactions recently, staying largely dormant for 14 years.
The sudden reactivation of hundreds of wallets at once points to coordinated access, rather than random movements. Analysts are watching closely, as the activity could indicate strategic consolidation, redistribution, or preparation for an unknown purpose.
After a decade of silence, the Silk Road addresses are alive again, and the crypto community is left asking why.
