A mysterious transfer of 300 Bitcoin (worth approximately $31.4 million) to the donation wallet of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht has sparked speculation online.
Still, blockchain researcher ZachXBT believes it is unlikely to be a self-donation.
According to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain, the substantial Bitcoin deposit was made to Ulbricht’s wallet, which has been soliciting donations since his release from prison earlier this year. The transaction, made via the centralized coin mixing service Jambler, drew widespread attention due to the anonymous and privacy-focused nature of the platform.
Some social media users quickly theorized that Ulbricht may have funneled funds from a long-hidden personal stash—possibly profits from the now-defunct Silk Road marketplace. However, ZachXBT pushed back against the theory in a June 2 post on X, suggesting that the donation likely came from third-party wallets, not Ulbricht himself.
“Few entities regularly use Jambler in size,”
ZachXBT explained. He also claimed to have identified “a potential demix for the donation,” which allowed him to trace some of the transaction path.
“It likely doesn’t appear to be a self-donation as people were claiming, though it comes from questionable sources due to the flagged address,”
he said.
Update: Few entities regularly use Jambler in size so I found a potential demix for the donation. 1Mp5hH originates from late 2014 exchange activity. 1CNDW has 2019 exchange activity and was previously flagged in compliance tools.
1Mp5hH & 1CNDW were depositing in size to…
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 2, 2025
ZachXBT added that wallets involved in the transaction have histories dating back to 2014 and 2019. One had been inactive since November 2019 before moving Bitcoin into Jambler between April and May 2025, the same period the donation was made. The researcher noted that activity on these wallets occurred while Ulbricht was still in prison, lending credence to the claim that the donation originated from outside parties.
Notably, privacy-focused users often prefer decentralized mixing tools over centralized options, such as Jambler. The use of Jambler, in this case, further raised eyebrows in the crypto community due to its limited adoption among privacy advocates.
Ulbricht, who ran Silk Road from 2011 until his arrest in 2013, was sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years in 2015. After serving 11 years, he was pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump on January 21, 2025.
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