US Government To Convert Silk Road Bitcoins To USD

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday January 16, 2014 @08:01PM from the real-cash dept.

angry tapir writes "The founder of the Silk Road underground website has forfeited the site and thousands of bitcoins, worth around $28 million at current rates, to the U.S. government. The approximately 29,655 bitcoins were seized from the Silk Road website when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) moved to close it in late September. 'The United States Marshals Service shall dispose of the Silk Road Hidden Website and the Silk Road Server Bitcoins according to law,' wrote Judge J. Paul Oetken, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, in a court order that was issued this week. The ruling represents the largest-ever forfeiture of bitcoins. 'It is the intention of the government to ultimately convert the bitcoins to U.S. currency,' said Jim Margolin, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York."

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Re:Killing two birds with one stone? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-01-16 21:07 · Score: 0, Offtopic

You arguments about Bitcoin's level of acceptance can be equally applied to PayPal in 1999...While I'm not claiming Bitcoin is comparable to PayPal, you arguments are weak.
You mom accepts PayPal!!