$31M Bitcoin Donation to Ulbricht Traced Back to Alphabay Vendor, Chainalysis Reveals

A $31 million Bitcoin donation to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht has been traced back to Alphabay, a successor darknet market, sparking concerns over its origins.

A mysterious $31 million Bitcoin donation made to Ross Ulbricht—the imprisoned founder of Silk Road—has now been linked to the infamous dark web marketplace Alphabay, according to an exclusive investigation by blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis reported by WIRED on June 5.

Chainalysis revealed that the 300 BTC sent to Ulbricht earlier this month originated from a wallet associated with Alphabay, the notorious successor to Silk Road that operated between 2014 and 2017 before being shut down. The analysis suggests the donor may have been a high-ranking vendor or stakeholder in Alphabay’s early days, given the significant amount of Bitcoin involved.

Phil Larratt, director of investigations at Chainalysis, told WIRED, “We have reasonable grounds to suspect that these funds originated in AlphaBay. Looking at the amount, that would suggest they came from someone who was possibly a vendor on AlphaBay back in the early days.”

Further analysis by independent crypto sleuth ZachXBT confirmed that the Bitcoin was not tied to Silk Road itself. He observed suspicious transactional behavior, including the use of centralized mixing services and fragmented withdrawals of altcoins. These tactics, he argued, are commonly employed to launder funds and avoid regulatory scrutiny.

ZachXBT identified the use of a mixing platform called Jambler—unusual among privacy-conscious users who prefer decentralized mixers like Wasabi or the now-defunct Samourai. He concluded, “The donation looks like a legitimate gesture, but the funds themselves are likely not legitimate.”

Chainalysis’ identification of AlphaBay-linked addresses was pivotal in the international investigation dubbed “Operation Bayonet,” which ultimately led to AlphaBay’s shutdown in 2017. Any BTC retained since then would now be worth over 40 times its original value, further raising questions about the donor’s current identity and motives.

The donation comes months after former U.S. President Donald Trump issued a full pardon for Ulbricht in January, ending his 12-year imprisonment. Ulbricht had been serving a double life sentence plus 40 years for founding and operating Silk Road.

While the donation reignited sympathy and debate around Ulbricht’s case, the connection to Alphabay has cast a shadow over the gesture, blending themes of redemption, underground loyalty, and unresolved cybercrime legacies.

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