14 DAY TRIAL // Rumor has it that the trove found by the FBI when searching through the laptop of the man suspected of being the “Dread Pirate Roberts,” namely some $122 million worth, is only the top of the iceberg of how much the Silk Road leader might actually own.
According to two Israeli researchers, the sum is about 22 percent of the bitcoin fortune he might have stashed away. Furthermore, they believe there’s a link between the suspect and the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.
The information was published by the New York Times who got access to a copy of the research paper signed by the Weizmann Institute’s Dorit Ron and Adi Shamir. The two believe they have identified transactions linking the suspect’s Bitcoin accounts to some associated to the mysterious Nakamoto.
While the transactions are completely real, the connection to the Bitcoin creator is what they call “speculative.” According to the research, a transfer of 1,000 Bitcoin was made on March 2013 to an account controlled by Ross William Ulbricht by one created in January 2009, the very early stages of the network. This means that they can’t exactly prove their assumptions, but they’re enough to make anyone wonder.
Ulbricht is suspected of being the mastermind of the underground market Silk Road. There is evidence that he ordered several fake IDs, while his laptop contained proof that he was trying to buy a foreign citizenship.
Silk Road facilitated the commercialization of drugs, guns, resources for cybercriminals and hitman services. According to a journal written by the alleged Dread Pirate Roberts, there were even hints that he has paid for six executions. Interestingly, the authorities say that while the hitmen provided evidence of the kills, there is no proof that the executions actually took place.
The court has deemed Ulbricht a flight risk and has denied him bail.