The Bitcoin price has been on a fresh decline in the past 24 hours after it broke above the $100,000 level again very briefly. This decline has seen Bitcoin break below the $95,000 price mark again, but a recent crypto market update is threatening to send it further down. According to recent reports, a US District Judge has ruled that the US Department of Justice can sell its Bitcoin holdings, which were seized during the infamous Silk Road case. With this development, an eventual sale of these Bitcoins raises the question of how this will impact Bitcoin’s price trajectory.

Greenlight To Liquidate Silk Road BTC

The BTC in question were seized by the US DOJ as part of its crackdown on Silk Road, a notorious darknet marketplace. These Bitcoins, which currently amount to 69,370 BTC, were seized as far back as 2013 and have seen their collective value grow massively since then. At the time of writing, the DOJ’s 69,370 BTC holding is worth more than $6.58 billion.

According to a report from DB News that was corroborated by a U.S. government official, the DOJ is now fully authorized to liquidate the $6.58 billion worth of Bitcoin. This authorization follows the resolution of a year-long ownership dispute between the U.S. government and Battle Born Investments Company. The dispute was settled when Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg ruled against Battle Born Investments Company’s request to delay the sale. Interestingly, court documents regarding this case show that the judgement was made on December 30, 2024.