{"id":394293,"date":"2025-06-06T11:32:04","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T06:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/ross-ulbrichts-bitcoin-donor-tied-to-dark-market-alphabay-crypto-news\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T12:20:38","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T06:50:38","slug":"ross-ulbrichts-bitcoin-donor-tied-to-dark-market-alphabay-crypto-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/ross-ulbrichts-bitcoin-donor-tied-to-dark-market-alphabay-crypto-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Ross Ulbricht’s Bitcoin donor tied to dark market Alphabay – Crypto News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A crypto wallet tied to the defunct dark web marketplace Alphabay was reportedly behind the donation of $31 million worth of Bitcoin to Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht, according to blockchain analysis.<\/p>\n

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis told WIRED for a June 5 report<\/a> that it had tied the 300 Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) donated to Ulbrich earlier this month<\/a> to Alphabay, a predecessor to Silk Road that operated from 2014 to 2017.<\/p>\n

Chainalysis suggested that the funds came from a major vendor on the platform who would have had access to such substantial amounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have reasonable grounds to suspect that these funds originated in AlphaBay,\u201d Chainalysis director of investigations Phil Larratt said. \u201cLooking at the amount, that would suggest they came from someone who was possibly a vendor on AlphaBay back in the early days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Independent blockchain sleuth ZachXBT confirmed the 300 Bitcoin did not come from Silk Road and noted suspicious patterns in how the donor moved the funds.<\/p>\n

They used multiple mixing services to obscure the transaction trail and cashed out other cryptocurrencies in small amounts to avoid detection, which he suggested indicated criminal origins.<\/p>\n

ZachXBT said<\/a> on X that the donation appears to come from a \u201csketchy centralized mixing service,\u201d called Jambler, whereas normal privacy enthusiasts use decentralized mixers such as Wasabi and the now-defunct Samourai<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udd25 TODAY: Ross Ulbricht, founder of the SilkRoad marketplace, received 300 $BTC<\/a> in his donation wallet. pic.twitter.com\/51tnFbWmCa<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) June 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Related: <\/strong><\/em>Silk Road founder\u2019s belongings fetch $1.8M in Bitcoin auction<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The analysis suggested that the money was a \u201clegitimate donation, but not legitimate funds,\u201d ZachXBT told WIRED.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsage of multiple mixers, spreading out CEX [centralized exchange] deposits, etc, that is done typically if you are trying to avoid getting illicit funds frozen,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alphabay takedown on BTC links<\/h2>\n

Chainalysis was instrumental in the identification of AlphaBay-linked Bitcoin addresses, which played a key role in the takedown<\/a> of the darknet marketplace in an investigation known as \u201cOperation Bayonet\u201d that spanned 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n

Any BTC held since then would have appreciated dramatically, potentially over 40-fold, but the identity of the donor and their motivation remain unknown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In January, US President Donald Trump fully pardoned<\/a> Ross Ulbricht, who had been in prison for 12 years serving a double life sentence plus 40 years for running the Silk Road.<\/p>\n

Magazine: <\/strong><\/em>Bitcoin $200K \u2018obvious\u2019 breakout, GameStop\u2019s first BTC buy: Hodler\u2019s Digest<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n