U.S. Supreme Court Declines Case on Seized $4.38 Billion Bitcoin from Silk Road
Ruholamin Haqshanas is a contributing crypto writer for CryptoNews. He is a crypto and finance journalist with over four years of experience. Ruholamin has been featured in several high-profile crypto...
The United States Supreme Court has decided not to hear a case involving 69,370 Bitcoin, valued at $4.38 billion, seized from the Silk Road dark web marketplace.
Battle Born Investments, a company claiming ownership of the Bitcoin, sought a review from the Supreme Court.
The firm argued that it had acquired the rights to the seized Bitcoin through a bankruptcy estate.
However, the Supreme Court’s refusal to take up the case leaves the government’s control over the cryptocurrency largely uncontested.
The decision also paves the way for the U.S. government to sell the significant Bitcoin stash.
The legal dispute began when Battle Born Investments asserted that it obtained the Bitcoin through a bankruptcy claim after the closure of Silk Road in 2013.
It alleged that Raymond Ngan, a debtor in the bankruptcy proceedings, was the mysterious “Individual X” who had illicitly taken billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin from Silk Road.
Despite these claims, the courts have consistently ruled against the company.
In 2022, a district court ruled that Battle Born did not have a legitimate claim to the Bitcoin.
The following year, an appeals court in San Francisco upheld this decision, concluding that the firm’s claims were not legally valid.
These setbacks culminated in the Supreme Court’s recent decision to decline the case, effectively closing the legal pathway for Battle Born.
The Supreme Court, which typically hears only 100 to 150 of over 7,000 annual review requests, chose not to take this matter further.
This decision significantly boosts
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