In 2021, Ulbricht's prosecutors and defense agreed that Ulbricht would relinquish any ownership of a newly discovered fund of 50,676 Bitcoin (worth nearly $5.35 billion in 2025) seized from a hacker in November 2021.[78] The Bitcoin had been stolen from Silk Road in 2013 and Ulbricht had been unsuccessful in getting them back. The U.S. government traced and seized the stolen Bitcoin. Ulbricht and the government agreed the fund would be used to pay off Ulbricht's $183 million debt in his criminal case, while the Department of Justice would take custody of the Bitcoin.[79][80]
Bingo. US always has been about commerce and money. It wouldn’t shock me if Ross has at least a few million hidden in some “lost wallet” printed out in a vault some where. He was smart enough to know he would get caught one day.
It's unlikely he has a hidden stash that is truly hidden. Back then the government wasn't all over the blockchain (compared to today) and obfuscation was not like what is available today.
So even if he does have a stash, it is likely marked, and he will get a knock on the door real fast if it starts moving.
I'm no blockchain forensics...icist, but coins were moved from let's say one main Silk Road wallet to many other people's wallets legitimately, or as legit as a illicit drug transaction can be. Silk Road wallet A transfers coins to rando person's wallet B. Also, wallet A occasionally transfers to wallet F which he owns. Who's to say which wallets he controls?
One of the possible ways Ulbricht got caught was a single Google Captcha that showed his IP address (San Francisco, go figure). So he covered his tracks pretty well.
I’m not suggesting that. I’m trying to understand what benefit you believe Trump received out of this whole scenario, and specifically how the handling of the bitcoin played a role.
Because in absence of this there was zero benefit to anyone with any power to make it happen. Getting clear $5bln without any legal objections is a clear benefit to many parties involved. I'm sure many people close to it have many ideas how to skim some off the top for themselves.
