[Back to the takedown index](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns) # Silk Road seizure October 2013, Darknet market Led by [Federal Bureau of Investigation](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation) Verified core entry, last reviewed August 21, 2026 What was taken down? Hidden service and servers seized; site replaced with seizure banner; approximately 173,991 BTC ultimately seized across 2013 and later actions.[[1]](#source-1)[[3]](#source-3) [See what happened](#what-happened) What happened to the people? Officials reported 1 charged, 1 apprehended, and 1 convicted. 1 charged, 1 apprehended, and 1 convicted named in the public record. Group accounted for: Likely complete [See people and accountability](#people) Did it stay down? After this action the service returned under a new name, first seen November 2013. The replacement was itself seized in a later action. High confidence in the link between the two. [See what happened afterward](#afterward) ## What happened FBI seized the Silk Road Tor hidden service and its supporting servers, replacing the site with a seizure notice, and arrested founder Ross Ulbricht in San Francisco.[[1]](#source-1)[[3]](#source-3) Announced October 2, 2013. **Date:** October 1 to October 2, 2013 **Target:** Silk Road, tor hidden service marketplace **Activity:** Darknet market, Fraud and stolen data, Cryptocurrency laundering **Operational lead:** FBI **Partners** USAO-SDNY, DEA, and 1 more[[1]](#source-1) - [United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/united-states-attorney-s-office-for-the-southern-district-of-new-york), prosecuting - [Drug Enforcement Administration](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/drug-enforcement-administration), investigating - [Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation](https://takedownindex.org/organizations/internal-revenue-service-criminal-investigation), financial tracing **Jurisdiction:** United States and Iceland **Outcome:** Hidden service and servers seized; site replaced with seizure banner; approximately 173,991 BTC ultimately seized across 2013 and later actions. **Status:** Completed **Legal mechanism:** US seizure and arrest warrants, Southern District of New York **Group accounted for:** Likely complete ### Infrastructure 1 onion service seized. Servers seized and cryptocurrency wallets seized, with no count in the record. | Identifier | Recorded as | Status | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | silkroadvb5piz3r[.]onion | 1 onion service | Seized | Primary Silk Road hidden service, replaced with an FBI seizure notice.[[1]](#source-1) | | Not published | Server | Seized, Iceland | Servers supporting the marketplace, reported to include infrastructure in Iceland. Exact count not published.[[1]](#source-1) | | Not published | Cryptocurrency wallet | Seized, United States | Bitcoin seized in the 2013 action; a much larger tranche of approximately 69,370 BTC was separately seized in November 2020.[[1]](#source-1) | Domains and onion addresses are shown defanged. Where the record gives a count but no identifier, the count is shown in place of one. This list carries only what appears in the cited sources. ## People and accountability Named in the public record: 1 charged, 1 apprehended, and 1 convicted. Figures count individuals named in charging documents and official statements, each person once per outcome. People alleged to be involved but not publicly identified are not counted. Reported and named. Officials reported 1 charged, 1 apprehended, and 1 convicted. 1 charged, 1 apprehended, and 1 convicted named in the public record. The two figures come from different places and are never added together. Officials publish a headline total, and this index counts only the individuals it can name from the cited record. #### Ross William Ulbricht Founder and sole controlling administrator of Silk Road. Current public status: Arrested, Charged, Convicted, Sentenced, and Released. **Charging authority:** United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York **Main charges:** Narcotics trafficking conspiracy; Continuing criminal enterprise; Computer hacking conspiracy; Money laundering conspiracy **Case number:** Not established in the public record **Arresting authority:** Federal Bureau of Investigation **Arrest location:** San Francisco, CA, United States **Extradition status:** Not established in the public record **Conviction or plea:** Convicted, February 4, 2015 **Sentence:** Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole plus 40 years **Segment:** Core operator **Sources:** [[1]](#source-1)[[3]](#source-3) **Full record:** [Everything indexed for Ross William Ulbricht](https://takedownindex.org/people/ross-william-ulbricht) Group accounted for: Likely complete The single controlling administrator was arrested, convicted, and sentenced, and several staff members were separately charged. No official source states that the complete staff roster was accounted for. Single founder-administrator plus a small paid staff of moderators and support personnel described in SDNY charging documents; several staff were separately prosecuted. [See the organizations and roles behind this action](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/silk-road-seizure/organizations) ## What happened afterward Ulbricht convicted 2015 and sentenced to life without parole; pardoned by President Trump 2025-01-21.[[1]](#source-1)[[3]](#source-3) November 2013 Silk Road 2.0. Rebrand. Confidence: High. Seized in a later action.[[2]](#source-2) Launched approximately five weeks after the original seizure by former Silk Road staff and administrators, explicitly adopting the brand, forum community, and site design. Established in SDNY charging documents. [Later action: Operation Onymous](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/operation-onymous) December 2014 AlphaBay and successor market ecosystem. Ecosystem successor. Confidence: High. Seized in a later action.[[4]](#source-4) Vendor and buyer populations migrated to successor markets. No operator, code, or infrastructure continuity with Silk Road. [Later action: AlphaBay seizure](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/alphabay-seizure) Return class C. The class is a research grading carried in the source dataset and its scale is not published, so this page relies on the relationship and confidence values instead. [How this index handles it](https://takedownindex.org/about). ## Sources Numbered markers throughout this entry link to the source that supports the claim beside them. ### Official sources 1. [Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Seizure Of Additional $28 Million Worth Of Bitcoins Belonging To Ross William Ulbricht, Alleged Owner And Operator Of Silk Road Website](https://takedownindex.org/sources/united-states-attorney-s-office-southern-district-of-new-york-manhattan-u-s-atto) United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, October 25, 2013, Source grade P1 Silk Road seizure, Ulbricht arrest and charges, Bitcoin seizure No address recorded for this source. Publisher, title, and date are given so it can be retrieved from the publisher. 2. [Operator Of Silk Road 2.0 Website Charged In Manhattan Federal Court](https://takedownindex.org/sources/united-states-attorney-s-office-southern-district-of-new-york-operator-of-silk-r) United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, November 6, 2014, Source grade P1 Silk Road 2.0 seizure, Benthall arrest and charges, seizure of additional dark markets No address recorded for this source. Publisher, title, and date are given so it can be retrieved from the publisher. 3. [United States v. Ross William Ulbricht, judgment and sentencing record](https://takedownindex.org/sources/united-states-district-court-for-the-southern-district-of-new-york-united-states) United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, May 29, 2015, Source grade P0 Conviction, sentence, and appellate history No address recorded for this source. Publisher, title, and date are given so it can be retrieved from the publisher. 4. [AlphaBay, the Largest Online 'Dark Market,' Shut Down](https://takedownindex.org/sources/united-states-department-of-justice-alphabay-the-largest-online-dark-market-shut) United States Department of Justice, July 20, 2017, Source grade P1 AlphaBay seizure, Cazes arrest and death, charges, scale figures No address recorded for this source. Publisher, title, and date are given so it can be retrieved from the publisher. Coverage note. - The 2025 presidential pardon is a later outcome and does not alter the 2013 infrastructure action. - Bitcoin seizure figures differ across the 2013 action and the November 2020 forfeiture; both are recorded rather than harmonized. Research context ## How this entry was checked This entry went through a dedicated source verification pass. Publisher, title, publication date, and docket numbers were confirmed against each cited source. Source review: Verified core Sources cited: 4 Research cutoff: August 20, 2026 Last reviewed August 21, 2026 See also [About the Internet Takedown Index](https://takedownindex.org/about) Related entries - [ZeroAccess botnet disruption](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/zeroaccess-botnet-disruption) - [Citadel botnet disruption](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/citadel-botnet-disruption) - [Operation Tovar](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/operation-tovar) Report updates or corrections Help keep this record accurate. 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