The U.S. Supreme Court will not consider Battle Born Investments’ lawsuit, which claimed it bought the rights to 69,370 bitcoins confiscated by the U.S. from the black market website, Silk Road.
The United States Supreme Court has declined to review a case related to the ownership of 69,370 Bitcoin — valued at $4.38 billion — seized by the U.S. government from the dark web marketplace Silk Road.
The application for the review was initiated by Battle Born Investments, a company that filed for the purchase of rights to the seized Bitcoin. BTC was down to $62,523.90 allegedly through a bankruptcy estate.
The Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the case could pave the way for the U.S. government to sell the Bitcoin.
Battle Born Investments was unsuccessful in arguing its case before a district court in 2022 and an appeals court in 2023, which claimed it obtained the BTC through a bankruptcy claim when Silk Road was shut down in 2013.
Read also: Len Sassaman: Could He Be the Mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto?
A San Francisco appellate court judge dismissed the case last year, arguing that the firm did not have a proper claim over the Bitcoin heist.
The United States Supreme Court only reviews between 100 and 150 of the approximately 7,000 requests it receives each year.
This Supreme Court decision implies that the U.S. government’s civil forfeiture action will likely succeed, enabling it to sell the Bitcoin.
In fact, the U.S. government began moving over $2 billion of the Silk Road-linked Bitcoin on July 29, with the Marshals Service — which uses Coinbase Prime for storing seized digital currencies — handling these transactions.
This is notable because, in the past, governments selling large amounts of Bitcoin have led to significant market volatility. For instance, nearly 50,000 Bitcoin, valued at $3.15 billion, were sold by the German government within weeks in June and July.
It remains unclear what the U.S. plans to do with the Bitcoin, although Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has stated that, if elected, he would create a “strategic Bitcoin stockpile.” Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has not indicated her plans for the recovered cryptocurrencies.
Silk Road was developed in 2011 by Ross Ulbricht, who is currently serving time in prison for multiple charges, including money laundering and narcotics distribution.
Trump has vowed to free Ulbricht if he were elected president.