Bitcoin wallet address Silk Road

By Justin O'Connell There has been an idea floating around the Internet that the US government is now the largest holder of Bitcoins in the wake of the Silk Road asset forfeitures. Although the US government does not appear to be quite yet there, many are still wondering: What will the US government do with all those Bitcoins? One thing is for sure: the Bitcoin community wants them back. The Bitcoins seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the Silk Road, according to one Change.org petition, belong to the Bitcoin community. As the petition states, “if the charges are correct [Ulbricht] does not deserve that money, but the Bitcoin community does.” The petition goes on: "I support the idea that the FBI should set up a Bitcoin faucet to give these back to the community slowly. It would help them go back into circluation, where the community needs them. A Bitcoin faucet, if you do not know what that is, is a website where Bitcoins are given out in miniscule amounts. This would help ensure that everybody that wants some of the Bitcoin stash could have some, and there would be enough for everyone." The petition asks for the confiscated $3.6 million in Bitcoins to be released back into the Bitcoin community via a “faucet, ” which means the coins would be released a little bit at a time, and for free. It could be that the petition is unnecessary based on the government's general asset forfeiture practices. The US Marshal Service is in charge of managing and disposing properties seized and forfeited by the Department of Justice agencies, like the FBI. It currently manages around $1 billion worth of property. The goal of the program, as stated, is “to maximize the net return from seized property by selling at auctions and to the private sector, and then using the property and proceeds for law enforcement purposes.” So, it could be more likely that the the US Marshall service sells the Bitcoins at auction (and into the private sector) in order to procure USD to fund future law enforcement purposes -or they could keep the BTC to fund future Bitcoin related investigations. "All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come." - Victor Hugo In the meantime, however, the Feds have changed their own Bitcoin wallet to the name, “Silk Road Seized Coins.” People around the world are sending them various amounts of BTC (usually one satoshi), but with a public message. The messages range from the Victor Hugo quote above to Kanye West's lyrics from his most recent single, New Slaves. “F*ck you and your corporation, y'all N*gga's can't control me. I know we the new slaves, I see the blood on the leaves. They throwin' hate at me, want me to stay on my knees.”