Bitcoin Forum

The United States government finds itself in possession of an odd asset that it must now auction: Bitcoin, the digital currency.

And we're not talking about a couple of spare bitcoin, but rather 29,657 bitcoin—which converts to more than $17 million based on today's exchange rate.

Marshals get their hands on (and subsequently auction off) all kinds of seized assets—luxuries like Lamborghinis, fur coats, and mansions—but this auction represents a new kind of wealth.

Under federal law, the government is required to auction the assets seized by Justice Department agencies like the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Drug Enforcement Agency. According to the U.S. Marshals website, more than 9,000 items of forfeited property bring in some $99 million a year.

The government seized this particular cryptocurrency windfall in a raid on servers for Silk Road, the black market website, last year. (The bitcoin being auctioned doesn't include the personal stash of Ross William Ulbricht, the suspected mastermind of Silk Road.)

Bidder registration opens on June 16 and closes June 23, according to a notice posted on the U.S. Marshals website. Only registered bidders can participate in the auction, which will take place over a 12-hour period on June 27.

Participants will be able to fight for nine blocks of 3,000 bitcoin—each block worth about $1.8 million based on today's conversion—and a single block of 2,657 bitcoin worth about $1.6 million.

"All bids," the government stipulates, "must be made in U.S. dollars."

Source "http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/06/us-marshals-are-selling-2965651306529-bitcoin/372770/"

So to partake in this "auction", one would have to get registered and subsequently pay taxes on the sum in case you win? What a waste...

I don't think you have to pay taxes on the bitcoin when/if you win, you do need to give a deposit to the US marshals to give you an incentive to pay the amount of the full bid.

Duplicate thread.

 /thread

Price is falling down because of this news. What is gonna happen with BTC after selling, what is your prediction for price?

I wonder what an injection of 15 million dollars of bitcoins will do to the economy?

On one hand, the fact the FBI is auctioning them legitimises it, but on the other hand, it massively increases supply in a market where typically far less than that is sitting on the order book.

What is the primary thread?

Main three:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=650538.0

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=419716.0

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=435985.0

I wonder what an injection of 15 million dollars of bitcoins will do to the economy?

On one hand, the fact the FBI is auctioning them legitimises it, but on the other hand, it massively increases supply in a market where typically far less than that is sitting on the order book.

Panic sell until my FIAT transfer goes through to exchange please.

should have sold it when BTC was at 1000+

So it would be a good time to buy when the auction the coins ?

IMO the best time to buy would be either right before or right after the auction is complete.

i hope bitcoins dip under 500 usd, so i can buy more

What "time" does this auction go live?

Is this auction open for public viewing? And if so, will any news media cover it? I would really like to see how this ends up, and also for the sake of transparency. What time on Friday does it start? There's still some part of me that is skeptical about this auction.

No it was a secret bid auction, meaning that bidders can only submit one bid and the other bids will not be disclosed. The government will notify the winners tomorrow (monday) that they won. The names of the winners nor the winning prices will be disclosed to the public via the government. I would not be surprised if some of the information about the winners and their prices gets leaked to the media.

Is there any chance that this could lead to Bitcoin crashing or exploding?

All things are possible. There is a reason Bitcoin has leveled off - everyone is afraid to trade right now because of the uncertain impact of this auction.

I dont think thats the reason but aside from that I dont think it will crash, since nobody is going to sell it all off.

EDIT: ^^^ I hope.