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Feds announce seizure of $3.36 billion in bitcoin stolen a decade ago from illegal Silk Road marketplace—the second-largest crypto recovery



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The crypto market has been battered this year, with nearly $2 trillion wiped off its value since its peak.Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesThe U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that it seized about $3.36 billion in stolen bitcoin during a previously unannounced 2021 raid on the residence of James Zhong.Zhong pleaded guilty Friday to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.U.S. authorities seized about 50,676 bitcoin, then valued at over $3.36 billion, from Zhong during a search of his house in Gainesville, Georgia, on Nov. 9, 2021, the DOJ said. It is the DOJ’s second-largest financial seizure to date, following its seizure of $3.6 billion in allegedly stolen cryptocurrency linked to the 2016 hack of the crypto exchange Bitfinex, which the DOJ announced in February.According to authorities, Zhong stole bitcoin from the illegal Silk Road marketplace, a dark web forum on which drugs and other illicit products were bought and sold with cryptocurrency. Silk Road was …

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