Ross Ulbricht 300 Bitcoin payday unlikely ‘self donation’
Ross Ulbricht’s recent receipt of 300 Bitcoin is from “questionable sources,” but it’s unlikely to be a case where he donated it to himself, says blockchain researcher ZachXBT.
Ulbricht, who founded the infamous online black market Silk Road, received 300 Bitcoin (BTC), worth $31.4 million, to his wallet that was soliciting donations, Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain said in a June 1 post to X.
The funds came from wallets using a centralized mixing service called Jambler, which led some social media users to speculate, without evidence, that the funds could be Ulbricht’s profits from the Silk Road, which he might have hidden away before he was nabbed by authorities and sent to prison.
However, ZachXBT said in a June 2 X post that he was skeptical that this is the case because “few entities regularly use Jambler in size,” and he found “a potential demix for the donation.”
“It likely doesn’t appear to be a self donation as people were claiming though it comes from a questionable sources due to the flagged address” he said.
The latest Bitcoin donation came from wallets using the Jambler mixing service, but “normal privacy enthusiasts use decentralized mixers,” according to ZachXBT.
ZachXBT said one of the addresses involved has exchange activity dating back to late 2014, while another was active in 2019 and previously flagged in compliance tools.
“Both were depositing in size to Jambler at similar times as the 300 BTC Ross donor received from Jambler. Both had dormant BTC from Nov 2019 until the mixer deposits made from April to May 2025,” he said.
He added in response to a user’s query that “Everyone was accusing Ross of a self-donation, so if anything, this proves it was a donation and not his secret stash because there was activity when he was away in prison.”
Ulbricht-tied wallets still have Bitcoin
Ulbricht ran Silk Road, which used Bitcoin for its payments, until 2013 when he was arrested and sentenced to a double life sentence plus 40 years in 2015. He served 11 years behind bars before US President Donald Trump pardoned him on Jan. 21.
Coinbase director Conor Grogan said in January he found 430 Bitcoin, worth over $45 million, in wallets he claimed were tied to Ulbricht. According to Grogan, the wallets have been inactive for over 13 years and were never seized by authorities.
Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence backed up Grogan’s assessment, tracing 14 Bitcoin addresses connected to Silk Road, with one holding over $9 million in Bitcoin.
Related: Ross Ulbricht calls for ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Roger Ver to be freed next
Ulbricht recently held an auction of personal belongings, which brought in more than $1.8 million worth of Bitcoin.
The collection included personal effects from before his 2013 arrest, such as a sleeping bag, backpack, a drum and prison memorabilia like a lock, notebook, clothing and several paintings created while incarcerated.
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