Silk Road

20 Stories

In Mountains Along Silk Road, 'an Amazing Treasure Trove'

Lost high-altitude cities suggest medieval trade routes were more complicated than we knew

(Newser) - An archaeologist says "the history of Central Asia is now changing" with the discovery of two lost medieval cities, some three miles apart, in the mountains along the Silk Road, per the BBC . The Silk Road was a series of trade networks stretching from China to Venice, through which...

How Billions of Stolen Bitcoin Stayed Hidden—Until a Slipup

Jimmy Zhong stayed under the radar for nearly a decade, until he made a banking error

(Newser) - The 2012 mystery of who stole a bundle of bitcoin that eventually ballooned to $3 billion in worth puzzled authorities for the better part of a decade, but in 2019, Jimmy Zhong finally made an error that led them to his doorstep. CNBC's investigative report delves into how Zhong...

DOJ Recovers Stolen Bitcoin Once Valued at $3.36B— in Popcorn Tin

It was stolen from Silk Road in 2012, is now only worth about $1B

(Newser) - Bitcoin valued at $3.36 billion was stolen from the dark web marketplace Silk Road in 2012. A decade later, it's been recovered, though it's lost quite a bit of value since then. The US Department of Justice announced Monday that the stolen cryptocurrency was seized last November,...

Reputed Dark Web Mastermind Found Dead in Jail Cell

Alexandre Cazes of AlphaBay was being held in Bangkok

(Newser) - He was thought to be a kingpin in the mysterious world of the dark web, and now the 26-year-old Canadian is dead. Authorities say that Alexandre Cazes is believed to have hanged himself in his holding cell in Thailand after his arrest earlier this month, reports the Bangkok Post . As...

'Dread Pirate Roberts' Will Spend Rest of His Days in Prison

Silk Road boss Ross Ulbricht loses appeal of his life sentence

(Newser) - A three-judge panel says it "might not have imposed" a life sentence on Ross Ulbricht, who ran a drug-peddling website on the dark web, but that's no reason to overturn it. The appellate court on Wednesday found Ulbricht's sentence of life in prison without parole for drug...

Bitcoin's Shadowy Creator Reveals Himself—Maybe

Craig Wright comes forward as the real Satoshi Nakamoto

(Newser) - An Australian computer scientist and entrepreneur has come forward to reveal himself as the long-unidentified founder of Bitcoin. For those who follow such things, the name will be familiar: It's Craig Wright, the man Wired magazine identified as the all-but-certain creator of the digital currency last year. Now Wright...

Judge Shows No Mercy to Creator of Underground Site

Ross Ulbricht of Silk Road gets life sentence

(Newser) - If the judge were feeling lenient, she could have given Ross Ulbricht a 20-year sentence. Instead, she delivered a life term to the 31-year-old founder of Silk Road , a now-shuttered underground website that allowed people to buy drugs anonymously with Bitcoins. "It was a carefully planned life's work,...

Former Feds Busted for Boosting Bitcoins

Ex-DEA, Secret Service agents stole digital currency during Silk Road probe: report

(Newser) - What do you do if you're a federal agent who's part of an undercover operation to bust up a booming black-market drug-dealing website? One thing you don't usually do is skim a goodly portion of said site's digital currency into your pockets, but two former federal...

Silk Road Boss Found Guilty
 Silk Road Boss Found Guilty 
Feb 4, 2015 3:46 PM CST

Silk Road Boss Found Guilty

Ross William Ulbricht faces life in prison

(Newser) - Ross William Ulbricht was swiftly convicted today of creating and operating an underground website that prosecutors said enabled drug dealers around the world to reach customers they would never find on the street. The jury's verdict in federal court in Manhattan came after little more than three hours of...

What to Expect in 'Dread Pirate Roberts' Trial

Silk Road jurors will hear about murder plots, libertarianism

(Newser) - The trial of alleged Silk Road drug market mastermind Ross Ulbricht begins soon, and it's expected to shine a spotlight on some of the darkest corners of the Internet. Jury selection begins tomorrow for the New York City trial of the 30-year-old, who prosecutors say was the shadowy "...

Mt. Gox Is Gone for Good
 Mt. Gox Is Gone for Good 
Apr 16, 2014 8:22 AM CDT

Mt. Gox Is Gone for Good

Company files for liquidation

(Newser) - Mt. Gox has given up its bid to rebuild itself, and appears headed for liquidation after a Tokyo court rejected its rebuilding plan. The court appointed provisional administrator Nobuaki Kobayashi to take control of the company's assets from CEO Mark Karpeles, Reuters reports. Karpeles is likely to be investigated...

CEO of Bitcoin Exchange Arrested

Charlie Shrem charged with money laundering in connection with Silk Road

(Newser) - A high-profile arrest in the world of Bitcoin: BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem, 24, has been arrested and charged with money laundering; the same goes for alleged co-conspirator and "underground Bitcoin exchanger" Robert Faiella (aka BTCKing). Authorities say the two schemed to sell more than $1 million of Bitcoin to...

Is the Dread Pirate Roberts Really Ross Ulbricht?

David Segal delves into the case of the alleged Silk Road mastermind

(Newser) - Oct. 1, 2013, brought the news that the FBI had taken down Silk Road, and with it the online drug marketplace's alleged mastermind, "Dread Pirate Roberts"—a man the FBI claims is actually Ross Ulbricht, an "ordinary nerd" who allegedly ordered hits to protect his operation....

The FBI Has More Bitcoins Than the Winklevoss Twins

The US government's wallet is the biggest in the world

(Newser) - The biggest Bitcoin wallet in the world appears to belong to … the FBI? Yes, thanks to its takedown of Silk Road , the Bureau now holds a wallet with 144,000 Bitcoins, Wired reports, which as of this writing is worth somewhere around $100 million. While the Bitcoin market is...

Bitcoin Scammer May Have Stolen $100M

Users of underground bazaar are trying to track their money

(Newser) - At this point, it's one of the largest thefts in history—and one of the most convoluted. Some person, or group, apparently made off with 96,000 Bitcoins worth a staggering $100 million, reports the Verge . The Bitcoins came from users of the underground bazaar called Sheep Marketplace, one...

As Feds Sing Praises, Bitcoin Hits Record High

Senators told IRS plans to regulate virtual currency

(Newser) - Bitcoin had a good day yesterday—as did people holding the virtual currency. On some exchanges, it hit record prices of $800 or more after a Senate hearing that saw federal officials praise some of the benefits of digital money, the Wall Street Journal reports. The first-ever congressional hearing on...

For Users of 'Silk Road' Drug Site, It's Time to Worry

More arrests have followed that of its alleged founder

(Newser) - It's the last thing users of the now-shuttered Silk Road website wanted to hear about: more drug-related arrests. Last week, authorities in San Francisco nabbed the site's alleged leader , Ross Ulbricht. Now it appears that the investigation won't stop there. Eight more alleged drug dealers who used...

Alleged Online Drug Kingpin Was 'Ordinary Nerd'

He was busted in sci-fi section of library

(Newser) - Alleged Silk Road mastermind Ross Ulbricht was no ordinary drug boss—he paid $1,000 a month for a San Francisco apartment he shared with two roommates, used an alias from the Princess Bride, and was arrested in the sci-fi section of his public library. But the FBI says the...

FBI Takes Down Silk Road, Alleged Internet Drug Market

'Dread Pirate Roberts' faces a slew of charges

(Newser) - The FBI has pulled the plug at least temporarily on a website accused of serving as a sort of Amazon.com for illegal drugs, reports the Verge . Undercover agents reportedly made dozens of purchases on the Silk Road website since late 2011, and the FBI today announced the arrest of...

China Takes Bulldozers to Ancient Islamic City

Beijing plans demolition of one of the Silk Road's oldest sites

(Newser) - The Islamic city of Kashgar, in China's far west, has some of the best preserved traditional architecture on the ancient Silk Road, and more than a million tourists a year visit the rambling mud-and-straw buildings that Genghis Khan once passed by. Now, however, the Chinese government wants to tear down...

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