The US government intends to sell more than 51,000 BTC confiscated in the case of hacking the “shadow” marketplace Silk Road, amid the global banking crisis.

According to judicial documents in the Silk Road case, on March 14, the US government sold 9,861 BTC worth more than $215 million. The sold assets were previously seized from James Zhong, who in 2012 hacked the Silk Road withdrawal processing system and transferred more than 50 000 BTC.

Last November, Zhong pleaded guilty to stealing Silk Road funds and voluntarily turned over the assets to the US Department of Justice.

“The government intends to sell all confiscated bitcoins in four batches during this calendar year,” the court said in a statement.

Part of the crypto community perceived the sale of confiscated assets as another government attack on the industry. However, according to TradingView, the first sale of 9,861 BTC did not affect the current price of bitcoin in any way – on the contrary, it showed an increase and is now trading at $28,444.

According to experts, the spreading banking crisis has leveled the negative impact of the mass sell-off of bitcoins, as global investors began to seek to keep their assets outside the traditional financial system.

In March, analysts at 21Shares reported that at least 205,000 BTC could be at the disposal of the President’s office and US federal agencies.