Prodajalec drog Dark Web obtožen pranja 137 milijonov dolarjev bitcoinov iz zapora

Zvezno sodišče v Marylandu obtožuje prodajalca temnih spletnih drog iz Marylanda, znanega kot Xanaxman, da je iz zapora opral bitcoin v vrednosti 137 milijonov dolarjev.

Xanaxman, pravo ime Ryan Farace, je bil pred tremi leti zaprt zaradi prodaje Alprazolama, oblike močnega anksioznega zdravila Xanax, na temnih spletnih trgih.

In November 2018, the court ordered Farace to forfeit 4,000 Bitcoin earned from selling drugs. That much Bitcoin was worth $16,800 then but would be worth $187.2 million today. He was also ordered to hand in $5.6 million in cash and property.

But Farace continued money laundering while serving a 57-month prison sentence, according to the federal indictment, which the court unsealed on Wednesday.

V obtožnici je zapisano, da je Farace ob pomoči svojega očeta Josepha Faraceja med oktobrom 2019 in aprilom 2021 opral prihodke od drog.

V zvezi s temi obtožbami je uprava za boj proti drogam februarja zasegla 2,875 bitcoinov, maja pa še eno serijo 59 bitcoinov. Danes bi bil ta Bitcoin vreden 137 milijonov dolarjev.

Medtem ko se obtožnica nanaša na izkupiček, pridobljen s preprodajo drog, ni jasno, ali gre za deleže v bitcoinih, za katere vlada prej ni vedela, ali o bitcoinih, ki jih je nekako pridobil v zaporu.

Temni splet in kripto

Reliable data about the dark web, let alone the use of crypto on the dark web, is difficult to obtain. In one attempt, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimated that več kot 800 milijonov dolarjev v kriptovalutah was sent to dark web markets in 2019.

The Silk Road, a marketplace popular for buying illicit drugs on the dark web, was forced to shut down by the FBI in 2013. The agency seized 173,991 Bitcoin (worth $33.6 million at the time), but there’s still 444,000 Bitcoin missing; 70,000 Bitcoin that mysteriously moved in November 2020, was part of that batch, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.

The US government auctions seized Bitcoin, often at a premium. In 2014, venture capitalist Tim Draper acquired 30,000 Bitcoin confiscated from the Silk Road at an undisclosed price.

Faraceov Bitcoin še ni prišel na trg.

Vir: https://decrypt.co/78585/dark-web-drug-dealer-indicted-for-laundering-137-million-in-bitcoin-from-prison