Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road marketplace, received a surprise donation of 300 Bitcoins. The coins, worth over $31 million, were sent to his official donation wallet.
The transfer caught the attention of blockchain tracking services like Lookonchain and Arkham Intelligence. The large amount and the unclear source quickly led to speculation across the crypto world.
Mixed Coins Raise Questions
Before landing in Ulbricht’s wallet, the funds appear to have passed through Jambler, a centralised Bitcoin mixing service. This step adds a layer of privacy by blending coins with others.
It also makes it harder to trace the source. Analysts were quick to point out that Jambler is not a widely used tool compared to decentralised privacy wallets like Wasabi or Samourai.
Old Wallets Came Back to Life
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT reported that two old wallets, one from 2014 and the other from 2019, moved large sums of Bitcoin into Jambler between April and May. The timing lined up closely with the donation to Ulbricht’s address.
These movements suggest the coins may not have come from Ulbricht himself, which rules out the idea that he was simply shifting old, hidden funds into his public wallet.
Also Read: Convicted Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht Shares Crypto Message Stating “Decentralization > Freedom”
Origin Remains Secret
Even though the transaction looks like a donation, its source still raises doubts. ZachXBT said the funds came from a “questionable source.”
One of the wallet addresses linked to the donation, known as 1CNDW, had already been flagged by compliance monitoring tools. That only added to the mystery, as the address had previously drawn attention for its past activity.
Ulbricht’s History and Bitcoin Connections
Ulbricht founded the Silk Road in the early 2010s. The marketplace allowed anonymous trade, mostly using Bitcoin. After his arrest in 2013, he was sentenced in 2015 to two life terms plus 40 years.
He served 11 years in prison before U.S. President Trump granted him a pardon in January this year. Since then, there has been renewed interest in his case and assets linked to Silk Road.
Dormant Coins Resurface
Back in January, Coinbase director Conor Grogan said he found 430 Bitcoins in wallets he believed were linked to Ulbricht. These wallets had stayed untouched for more than 13 years and were never seized.
Arkham Intelligence supported Grogan’s claim, finding 14 wallet addresses tied to Silk Road. One of those alone held over $9 million in Bitcoin.
The sudden arrival of 300 Bitcoins to Ulbricht’s wallet has left many in the crypto space both curious and cautious.
While the donation may seem like a show of support, the unclear path it took and its links to flagged addresses keep the story surrounded by doubt.