Share this article
US Government Sells Silk Road User's Seized Bitcoins for $3 Million
A Silk Road user faces 40 years in prison for allegedly completing 10,000 transactions via the online black market.
By Pete Rizzo
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 2:07 p.m. Published Apr 28, 2014, 6:50 p.m.
A Netherlands-based user of the now-defunct online black market Silk Road has plead guilty to a federal drug conspiracy charge.
Cornelis Jan Slomp admitted to importing controlled substances into the US and distributing 104kg of MDMA, 566,000 ecstasy pills and 4kg of cocaine, among other substances, globally from March 2012 to August 2013.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Slomp was arrested at the Miami International Airport in late August of last year, when he allegedly sought to meet with business partners who were looking to purchases his Silk Road operations and customers.
Gary Hartwig, special agent-in-charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Chicago, called Slomp a "prolific vendor on Silk Road" and went on to issue a stern warning to potential wrongdoers following in his footsteps.
Said Hartwig:
"Those who mistakenly believe the anonymity of the Internet - even on the Deep Web - shields them from scrutiny are finding out they can’t evade detection in cyberspace."
However, perhaps most interesting about the story is that the government has already sold more than $3m in the proceeds from Slomps' crimes, Assistant US Attorney Randall Samborn told CoinDesk, though he declined to offer any further specifics about the sale.
If convicted, Slomp faces up to 40 years in prison and a maximum fine of $5m.
More details
Court documents suggest that Slomp, who used the vendor names 'UnderGroundSyndicate' and 'BTCMaster', conducted more than 10,000 transactions on the black market website, earning 385,000 BTC in the process.
The investigation against Slomp began as far back as April 2012, when US Customs and Border Protection officers in Chicago seized an envelope containing MDMA.
As a result of the ensuing investigation, during which 100 similar envelopes were discovered, Slomp was eventually determined to be the individual mailing the illegal substances.
More details
US and Dutch law enforcement officials have been among the more active international groups at coordinating the arrest of bitcoin-based black market users.
Earlier this January, a 25-year-old US citizen was arrested after allegedly mailing a semi-automatic pistol to Dutch Law enforcement officials.
Slomp is among the first to plead guilty to charges in such cases. Most notably, alleged Silk Road mastermind Ross Ulbricht pleaded not guilty to charges against him this February.
More more on that ongoing case, read our most recent report here.
Package of narcotics via Shutterstock
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Strategy shares register first six-month losing streak since adoption of bitcoin strategy in 2020
Crypto analyst Chris Millas has highlighted an unusually persistent slump in Strategy shares, breaking with past drawdown patterns even as the firm continued accumulating bitcoin.
What to know:
- Strategy shares fell in each of the final six months of 2025, marking the first time since the firm adopted bitcoin in August 2020 as a treasury reserve asset.
- The decline stands out for its persistence, as past selloffs were often followed by sharp rebounds.
- The stock sharply underperformed both bitcoin and the Nasdaq 100 despite the firm's continued BTC purchases.
Top Stories
