Silk Road was a hidden website, reachable only via Tor, that operated from January 2011 until law enforcement shut it down in October 2013. US prosecutors say it was used by more than 100,000 buyers, mostly for illegal drugs, and paid in bitcoin.
The case
- Founder Ross Ulbricht ("Dread Pirate Roberts") was convicted on seven counts in February 2015 and sentenced to life in prison on 29 May 2015.
- On 21 January 2025 President Trump granted him a full and unconditional pardon.
What the blockchain revealed
Users thought bitcoin was anonymous. It is pseudonymous (pseudonymity): every transaction is public forever. In 2020 IRS investigators traced 54 previously undetected Silk Road transactions and seized several thousand bitcoins worth over $1 billion – years after the site closed.
The bigger picture
Cash and banks are also used for crime. What Silk Road actually showed is that a public ledger is a poor hiding place for criminals, while still letting ordinary people pay without asking permission. That is why privacy in Bitcoin is a matter of careful practice (see privacy basics), not a built-in cloak.