Insights

Case Study

Silk Road Investigation

Billion-Dollar Investigation and Prosecution of Bitcoin-Powered Black Market

One of our experts, while in government service, initiated, planned, and supervised the investigation and prosecution of the owner and operator of Silk Road, an online black market on the Dark Web that facilitated US$ 1.2 billion in illegal drug sales using Bitcoin. A record 173,000 bitcoin were seized during the investigation. Our team analyzed bitcoin transactions underlying more than US$ 1 billion worth of illegal narcotics deals on the Silk Road online black market for the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in connection with the trial of Silk Road’s owner and operator, Ross Ulbricht.