[rthomas6]

Well, I somehow doubt that attorneys take payment in bitcoins, so they didn't have to find or seize the bitcoins. People forget that they're all publicly stored in the blockchain, so everyone would have a reasonable suspicion which bitcoin addresses are used for Silk Road. If Mr. Ulbricht decided to liquidate some of those assets into a bank account, even if he used one of those "launderer" services, it would be clear that a certain amount left that bitcoin address, and somehow that exact amount in dollars ended up in the account. Not exactly good for defending your innocence.

[aianus]

Why wouldn't you take payment in bitcoins if you were an attorney with a potential client with $80 million of them? Maybe you charge them an extra few $100k, but you take the business.

As for everyone having a reasonable suspicion which bitcoin addresses are used for silk road, I would assume Silk Road taint is rather like cocaine on US cash; it's everywhere.