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Authorities seize $3.36 B in crypto dark web fraud case

It signals the federal government's growing in interest in recovering cryptocurrency payments tied to crime.
Bittrex Sanctions
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U.S. federal authorities say they seized over $3.36 billion in Bitcoin during an investigation into fraud on the Silk Road dark web marketplace.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said about 50,676 in Bitcoin was seized last November, and was valued at the time at more than $3.36 billion.

It was, at the time, the largest cryptocurrency seizure in DOJ history.

As Axios reported, the move signals the federal government's growing interest in recovering cryptocurrency payments linked to cybercrimes.

The Silk Road was in operation between 2011 and 2013 and worked as a dark web marketplace, but collapsed after operatorRoss Ulbricht was arrested.

Ulbricht, 31-years-old at the time, was given five sentences, including two for life, in 2015. They would be served concurrently with no chance of parole, the Guardianreported.