The US has seized $3.4 billion in bitcoins from a developer who stole the cryptocurrency from the dark web market "Silk Road" a decade ago.

According to federal prosecutors in New York, 32-year-old James Zhong pleaded guilty on Friday to committing fraud in September 2012 when he illegally acquired more than 50,000 bitcoins.

Agents recovered the digital money when they raided Zhong's house in Gainesville, Georgia, in November last year, AFP reported.

They found the bitcoins on devices that were hidden in a safe on the basement floor.

"For almost ten years, the whereabouts of this huge chunk of missing bitcoins has been a mystery worth more than $3.3 billion," said US Attorney Damien Williams.

"Thanks to state-of-the-art cryptocurrency tracking methods and good old-fashioned police work, law enforcement has discovered and recovered this impressive stash of criminal proceeds."

Prosecutors allege Zhong defrauded Silk Road by triggering rapid transactions from about nine anonymous accounts.

He faces up to 20 years in prison.

The US government calls Silk Road "the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet," which was used by traffickers in more than 10 countries in North America and Europe. It was shut down by the FBI in October 2013.

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