NEW YORK, January 13 (Sputnik) – Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday in the trial of Ross Ulbricht, accused of running Silk Road, an anonymous online market where arms and illegal drugs were traded for bitcoins.
Prosecutors say he created and was behind the Silk Road website from at least January 2011 to October 2013, facilitating $1.2 billion in sales.
Ulbricht, 30, has pleaded not guilty to seven counts, including operating a running criminal scheme and conspiracy to traffic drugs.
An anticipated six-week Manhattan federal court trial is expected to highlight how virtual currencies are traded for drugs in so-called Darknet markets. Ulbricht supporters, bitcoin fans and libertarians are calling the case an attack on Internet freedoms.
In 2013, the website was shut down by US authorities and Ulbricht was arrested. The same year, a so-called Silk Road 2.0 came online but was also shut down a year later.
November media reports suggested that Silk Road 3.0 was already operating.
