The nine-month US Supreme Court term began this month, and it’s already impacting the crypto industry. Today, in an announcement of the lawsuits that the justices have agreed to hear during this term, the highest US court declined to hear an appeal regarding 69,370 bitcoins associated with the Silk Road.
With the justice’s denial to hear an appeal of Battle Born Investments, et al. v. United States, a 2022 ruling from the US District Court, Northern District of California will probably prevail.
Because the lower court ordered the US government to “dispose of the forfeited defendant property according to law,” the US Marshals or another agency might soon have court instructions for liquidating a massive seizure of bitcoin once stolen from the Silk Road.
In short, the Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari — a Supreme Court appeal — effectively removes a hold on the sale of $4.4 billion worth of bitcoin.
Supreme Court won’t intervene in this bitcoin dispute
Battle Born Investments purchased bankruptcy claims after the 2013 collapse of Ross Ulbricht’s dark web marketplace, Silk Road. Specifically, Battle Born claims to own bitcoin seized from ‘Individual X,’ that Individual X stole from Silk Road.
The wallet in dispute is 1HQ3Go3ggs8pFnXuHVHRytPCq5fGG8Hbhx, which is now emptied and in the custody of the US government, pending court instructions.
Battle Born had requested certiorari of its claim to be “an innocent owner of all of the Defendant Property pursuant to its status as the purchaser of the bankruptcy estate.” However, because the nine justices will not hear that case this term, that forfeiture order from the US District Court will likely prevail.
Although there are a few more formalities and legal checks that need to occur before the US government will actually sell the bitcoin, it’s possible that the US Marshals might auction off several additional billions of dollars as a result of the Supreme Court denial.
