$4.4B Silk Road sale, Satoshi’s identity — None of it ultimately matters to BCH crypto punks
The United States Supreme Court has denied hearing a case involving “stolen” BTC from the formerly prosperous Silk Road marketplace. The decision permits the state to sell the coins valued at around $4 billion USD, but this news and that of a ‘Satoshi reveal’ on HBO still aren’t stopping crypto OGs from ceaselessly developing P2P (peer-to-peer) use cases for bitcoin.
Right off the bat it should be noted: “Bitcoin” for the purposes of this article means the definition written down in Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper. Namely, “A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash [that allows] online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.” A very punk rock concept, if one will.
“Purely peer-to-peer” is what started this whole disruption called bitcoin that we love, and what enabled the Silk Road to grow so massively in the first place. Suffice it to say for now that massive onchain fees alienating average users, custodial second layers, and government-backed ETFs will not be considered “bitcoin” for the purposes of this article. So if bitcoin cash triggers you, please change the channel.
Ross Ulbricht
Silk Road case won’t be heard, $4B stash of BTC could be sold by United States
A recent ruling from the United States Supreme Court has opened up the possibility of another sale of bitcoins allegedly seized by the state from the now infamous Silk Road online marketplace. The Silk Road is back in the news these days with popular appeals for harshly imprisoned founder Ross Ulbricht to see his life returned to him, and a double life sentence plus 40 years overturned.
The coins, which the state says are a lawful asset forfeiture connected to criminal activity, have been argued by claimants to be nothing of the sort, having a legitimate and innocent owner.
“The government has never been required to prove these allegations, however, nor has it disclosed the identity of the mystery person who allegedly voluntarily forfeited his interest in an asset now worth $4.4 billion, nor has it alleged that that asset was ever used in any criminal activity,” a petition for writ of certiorari states.
The claimant is a group called Battle Born Investments, which is now back up sats creek without a paddle regarding the coins. The theft was allegedly perpetrated by mysterious “Individual X,” said to be one Raymond Ngan.
Hype abounds about new HBO Satoshi documentary
Speaking of mysterious individuals, Bitcoin’s creator, the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, has also been in the news again, right along with the Silk Road. It’s like we’re cycling back to the true “OG” days of Bitcoin before the days of Blackrock exchange-traded funds and limitless draconian “regulations.” But still, speculation about the identity of Nakamoto is as old as Bitcoin itself, and terribly played out.
As one Redditor noted: “The truth is there’s a lot of circumstantial evidence that points to several people. Whoever they reveal depends entirely on the motivations of HBO and/or the director.” The user continued, asserting that naming someone alive could have negative effects.
“It worries me that they reportedly spoke to the guy in person. If they named Finney or Sassman it would be fine because they’re dead. But naming someone who is still alive leads me to believe their goal is to stir controversy and FUD,” they said.
“Jessica” NFT on BCH’s UTXO-based smart contract system.
UTXO smart contracts, NFTs, blocksize adjustment algos and more: Development onchain continues on Bitcoin Cash
Well, here is the part that will trigger many. But it’s sad it should be so. Underneath all the news about a Satoshi ‘reveal,’ and squabbles about who owns bitcoins that the state habitually steals, development onchain continues on a fork of BTC — bitcoin cash.
BCH is still used peer-to-peer, not forced to rely on second-layer or custodial add-ons to escape heavenly transaction fees. What’s more, there’s been a lot going on under the radar in past years for the asset. Interestingly, mainstream crypto news is almost dead silent about these innovations. So what are they?
Well, unspent transaction output-based (UTXO-based) smart contracts for one, resulting in smart contracts comparable to those on Ethereum. Since the contracts are UTXO-based, this means the contract system is baked right into the chain itself. The capability has been active and working since the 2023 upgrade, and notably allows for easy creation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for negligible fees.
BCH developer Jason Dreyzehner has just published his 2025 Bitcoin Cash Improvement Proposals as well, seeking to further streamline the new capabilities. In May 2024, a further upgrade was added called ABLA (adaptive blocksize limit algorithm) which allows the BCH blocksize to adjust automatically according to network usage. There are concerns, of course, about any network. So shilling is not the true aim here.
Suffice it to say: Whatever HBO says, and however much the government immorally seizes, as far as I can tell, bitcoin is still functioning as peer-to-peer electronic cash, aiming to be a global reserve currency for a more peaceful world. That’s a big “W” for the punks, and something that deserves talking about.
