How crypto investigator ZachXBT exposed the source of 300 BTC sent to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, using advanced tracing methods.

Ross Ulbricht, creator of the online marketplace Silk Road, speaks at the Bitcoin Conference at the Venetian Convention & Expo Center on May 29, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Related: Silk Road founder’s belongings fetch $1.8M in Bitcoin auction The analysis suggested that the money was a “legitimate donation, but not legitimate funds,” ZachXBT told WIRED.

Ross Ulbricht—who was serving a life sentence over a conviction for running a dark web illicit drug market before being pardoned by President Donald Trump—says more clemency is needed, arguing that ...

One of the funnier examples of terrible opsec in the court documents was the claim he'd asked a question on Stack Overflow ...

Ross Ulbricht, the former founder of the now-defunct drug trafficking site Silk Road, recently received an anonymous donation of 300 Bitcoins, worth around $31 million, according to reporting from ...

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 ...

AlphaBay, similar to Ulbricht’s Silk Road, was an online marketplace that dealt in illegal goods and services like drugs and stolen data. It operated between 2014 to 2017, before resurfacing ...

During Ross Ulbricht’s trial, federal prosecutors alleged that Silk Road facilitated more than $200 million worth of drug sales through its hidden services on the dark web. They also accused him ...

Donald Trump pledged to cement the US as the bitcoin mining capital of the planet. The president’s sweeping tariffs stand to ...

Yi He clarifies that CZ presidential pardon rumors from Trump are false; no official evidence supports the claims, according ...