$37,000,000 in Bitcoin (BTC) for Sale by US Government

[plvbob0070]

Bitcoin auction has been a thing for crypto investors. Last November 2018 when the last auction happened. The amount of Bitcoin in the upcoming auction was acquired through criminal and illegal cases.

The registration for the big auction is now open for those who are located in the US, and can join the said event if they were able to register on time. February 12 is the deadline while the online auction will happen on February 18, 2020, from 8 am - 2 pm EST.

The winner will be notified through email, the same date with the auction. The auction is oper for everyone as long you have the capability of meeting the required deposit amounting to $200,000.

The federal law enforcement agency will put an estimated 4,040 Bitcoin or an amount of (current value is $38,563,173).

Source:
https://dailyhodl.com/2020/02/03/37000000-in-bitcoin-btc-for-sale-by-us-government-registration-for-online-auction-begins/

Here's the link to US Marshals Service where you can see more and additional information regarding the auction.
https://www.usmarshals.gov/assets/2020/febbitcoinauction/

We all heard of Bitcoin auction even for once right? It's usually done by the government whenever there's a bitcoin involvement. I know not everyone does this but after 2018, here's a chance for those who do auctions.

Auction is not my thing, of course, I don't have that much money needed to meet the requirements. It's is really indeed for wealthy people only. I can only buy bitcoin through exchange depending on the amount of money I can invest. Since I lack knowledge regarding this, I have questions, what can you say about buying Bitcoin that was used in doing illegal activities? Does it have any differences with the usual thing we do? Does it have lesser value because it was from illegal activity or does it cost higher because of the bidding? And what does the government do after receiving money from the auction? Do they use it in a proper way or simply, do they add it to the government's asset?

Sorry for the multiple questions but I'm just curious about it. Also a disclaimer, I'm not posting this to promote the site, not the event, I just want to share the news with everyone.

[1715650837]

1715650837

[YuginKadoya]

Pretty sure the government would have their own reason needing money from an Auction but that amount of Bitcoin was pretty sick, and just like you, I don't have a thing for Bidding as well I don't have the knowledge in doing so, And the financial back-up to register, I guess if this Bitcoin would be bought by some normal consumer those Bitcoin will surely return in Circulation and I guess even though the Bitcoin was from some illegal transaction Bitcoin will still be Bitcoin whatever you think about it, I guess it is OK for me if I am the one who won that amount of Bitcoin the most important thing here is that 4040 BTC will be in good hands.

[rdbase]

Put up a thread about this auction of 4040BTC when heard about it yesterday and if it will affect the current price https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5223241.0
Feel free to post your thoughts if it will cause another bull run like back in 2017 when there was a similar auction by the US government back in 2016.

[gentlemand]

I have questions, what can you say about buying Bitcoin that was used in doing illegal activities? Does it have any differences with the usual thing we do? Does it have lesser value because it was from illegal activity or does it cost higher because of the bidding? And what does the government do after receiving money from the auction? Do they use it in a proper way or simply, do they add it to the government's asset?

Tim Draper, a major VC investor, bought 30,000 coins seized from the Silk Road. I'm sure he would have no trouble at all moving them on for just the same price as any other coin. They've basically been 'cleaned' by passing through government hands.

This lot don't release their sold prices. From hints from failed bidders it's usually slightly below the market rate but not significantly. It all depends on who turns up on the day to bid. The UK police recently did a public auction of seized BTC and the prices were more than the headline rate on average with a few exceptions where people clearly didn't understand the difference between BTC and BSV etc and radically overpaid.

https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2019/09/27/uk-police-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-criminally-seized-auction-ethereum-ripple-satoshi-vision/

Dunno where the money would go. Maybe back into their own budget. Who cares?

[squatter]

I have questions, what can you say about buying Bitcoin that was used in doing illegal activities? Does it have any differences with the usual thing we do? Does it have lesser value because it was from illegal activity or does it cost higher because of the bidding? And what does the government do after receiving money from the auction? Do they use it in a proper way or simply, do they add it to the government's asset?

Tim Draper, a major VC investor, bought 30,000 coins seized from the Silk Road. I'm sure he would have no trouble at all moving them on for just the same price as any other coin. They've basically been 'cleaned' by passing through government hands.

This lot don't release their sold prices. From hints from failed bidders it's usually slightly below the market rate but not significantly.

That only proves that failed bidders bid below the market rate. If anything, these bitcoins carry a premium for the same reason that "tainted bitcoins" carry a discount.

The fact that Tim Draper won every single lot in that Silk Road auction suggests he paid a premium.

And what does the government do after receiving money from the auction? Do they use it in a proper way or simply, do they add it to the government's asset?

According to the USMS website:

Proceeds generated from asset sales are used to operate the [Asset Forfeiture] program, compensate victims and support various law enforcement efforts.

[gentlemand]

That only proves that failed bidders bid below the market rate. If anything, these bitcoins carry a premium for the same reason that "tainted bitcoins" carry a discount.

The fact that Tim Draper won every single lot in that Silk Road auction suggests he paid a premium.

Who knows? I do remember keeping a close eye out and everyone who spoke of their bid said theirs was under market. Can't remember how many said anything but it was a few.

It doesn't really mean anything. There'll be good days and bad days when the buyers don't show up in the same numbers. It's not much of a reflection of the market elsewhere. There's only so many buyers at this level and only so many who bothered to qualify.

[fillippone]

Quoting here a post of mine because of context:

Billionaires Lick Their Lips As U.S. Marshals Auction Off Over 4,000 Bitcoin

• U.S. Marshals will auction off approximately $37 million worth of bitcoin on February the 18th.
• Officials could have made ten times their money if they had HODL’d the leading cryptocurrency.
• Billionaire bitcoin investor Tim Draper is likely lining up once again to bid on the auction.

This is what I would do if I were Tim Draper (who's already sitting on 40,000 BTC

• I would buy all the bitcoin
• I would declare a boating, hacking, kebab accident
• I would send all the money to a mixing service
• In your face g-men! Bitcoin fixes that!

Yes.
I would do that just because.
And hate for chainalaysis (and all the subsequent actions and consequences) is growing big on me.
(see my message in signature: [PAXOS+COINJOIN]Your privacy is a threat to exchange business?#deletepaxos.

[Artemis3]

That only proves that failed bidders bid below the market rate. If anything, these bitcoins carry a premium for the same reason that "tainted bitcoins" carry a discount.

The fact that Tim Draper won every single lot in that Silk Road auction suggests he paid a premium.

Who knows? I do remember keeping a close eye out and everyone who spoke of their bid said theirs was under market. Can't remember how many said anything but it was a few.

It doesn't really mean anything. There'll be good days and bad days when the buyers don't show up in the same numbers. It's not much of a reflection of the market elsewhere. There's only so many buyers at this level and only so many who bothered to qualify.

What is the point of bidding if you do it at market rate or above? For that you can simply go to an exchange...

If i had the money, i would do the same: Bid at lower price than market, else its pointless.

[gentlemand]

What is the point of bidding if you do it at market rate or above? For that you can simply go to an exchange...

If i had the money, i would do the same: Bid at lower price than market, else its pointless.

Slippage. That's the whole reason many go to OTC trades.

No way could you obtain several thousand BTC in one go without risking driving the market batty. You could try it over a few days but even then others may notice strong and sustained buying and raise their sells.

Paying slightly above market for a one time buy could save you money vs buying on the open market.

[Dabs]

If I were Tim Draper, I would do something else ... I'd work with Wasabi or JoinMarket to create the biggest and longest sequence of consecutive Coin Joins to mix my 40,000 BTC with everyone else's on that day. It will be a day scheduled ahead of time so the most number of participants can join in. Hopefully get a whole bunch of whales and others and even the "traditional" mixers ... I mean, who wouldn't want their coins linked to "clean virgin whitelisted gov" coins ...

I see, 40k BTC, going to get mixed in with an additional 100k from all over the place, using several rounds of Coin Join. Going to be awesome when Chainalysis says everyone's coins are clean because they all came from the auction.

[Happy Waters]

What is the point of bidding if you do it at market rate or above? For that you can simply go to an exchange...

If i had the money, i would do the same: Bid at lower price than market, else its pointless.

Slippage. That's the whole reason many go to OTC trades.

No way could you obtain several thousand BTC in one go without risking driving the market batty. You could try it over a few days but even then others may notice strong and sustained buying and raise their sells.

Paying slightly above market for a one time buy could save you money vs buying on the open market.

I love a good bargain, and your logic is solid during flat and Bull markets. In a bear market you can find plenty of bargains without help from the Feds.

[gentlemand]

I love a good bargain, and your logic is solid during flat and Bull markets. In a bear market you can find plenty of bargains without help from the Feds.

A beary market would be keen to latch on to sustained buying too. Everyone looks for that glimmer of hope and will grab it if it arrives.

And there's a class of buyer who'll regard a government endorsed sale as more desirable than a regular one. If people are willing to pay a premium for freshly mined coins, these ones have an attractive stamp of authenticity too.  

[fillippone]

<...>


What is the point of bidding if you do it at market rate or above? For that you can simply go to an exchange...

If i had the money, i would do the same: Bid at lower price than market, else its pointless.

I think it would be the same concept behing people payin more for coinbae UTXO's: to some actors having "clean" coins is something worth a premium over market rate.
These coins would of course have an "History" but whatever happened before the auction transaction would be forgiven thanks to U.S. Marshal.

Of course fungibility, once again, is major limit in bitcocin protocol, and needs to be fixed as soon as possible (via shnorr/taproot et al. ) or is something will keep distorting markets.

If I were Tim Draper, I would do something else ... I'd work with Wasabi or JoinMarket to create the biggest and longest sequence of consecutive Coin Joins to mix my 40,000 BTC with everyone else's on that day. It will be a day scheduled ahead of time so the most number of participants can join in. Hopefully get a whole bunch of whales and others and even the "traditional" mixers ... I mean, who wouldn't want their coins linked to "clean virgin whitelisted gov" coins ...

I see, 40k BTC, going to get mixed in with an additional 100k from all over the place, using several rounds of Coin Join. Going to be awesome when Chainalysis says everyone's coins are clean because they all came from the auction.

Yes, basically my idea, only better explained!

[The Sceptical Chymist]

The auction is oper for everyone as long you have the capability of meeting the required deposit amounting to $200,000.

Eh....yeah, I guess I won't be partaking in this particular auction.  Nor would I really want to be buying bitcoin from the US government.

What is the point of bidding if you do it at market rate or above? For that you can simply go to an exchange...

I agree--it's not like there should be a premium for this particular batch of bitcoins.  They're not collectibles.  And I'm sure the government is going to make a nice profit from this, basically legally stealing from criminals.  Meanwhile the rest of us are taxed to death.  Grr.

No way could you obtain several thousand BTC in one go without risking driving the market batty. You could try it over a few days but even then others may notice strong and sustained buying and raise their sells.

I'd say if you were going to buy that amount of bitcoin, you'd have the patience to spread the buy orders out over more than a few days.  People with lots of money do basically the same thing in the stock market all the time.  It's certainly possible to buy thousands of bitcoins without moving the market much--I think it would just take patience and tons of cash.

[buwaytress]

@Artemis, ask someone who's actually bought bitcoin at an auction. Some of the notables in this forum (well ok I only know one actually) actually got most of his early stash cheap from a similar auction. Cut price.

Although, the last auction I watched in the UK (also seized crypto sold by police) actually sold many of their lots for over market price. Guess some people still don't know how to exchange or P2P...

[squatter]

That only proves that failed bidders bid below the market rate. If anything, these bitcoins carry a premium for the same reason that "tainted bitcoins" carry a discount.

The fact that Tim Draper won every single lot in that Silk Road auction suggests he paid a premium.

Who knows? I do remember keeping a close eye out and everyone who spoke of their bid said theirs was under market.

Again, that just proves that the losing bidders bid too low. That doesn't indicate that government-auctioned bitcoins sell for a discount.

Has there ever been a single case of government-auctioned bitcoins where the winner(s) claimed to have bought under market? I doubt it. That's probably another indication that they actually sell at a premium.

This really boils down to common sense. Why would virgin bitcoins warrant premiums up to 30%, but government-approved bitcoins warrant a discount?

[pixie85]

@Artemis, ask someone who's actually bought bitcoin at an auction. Some of the notables in this forum (well ok I only know one actually) actually got most of his early stash cheap from a similar auction. Cut price.

Although, the last auction I watched in the UK (also seized crypto sold by police) actually sold many of their lots for over market price. Guess some people still don't know how to exchange or P2P...

I don't think that people paid premium on that auction because they're stupid and don't know what the exchange price is. They did the same exact thing when silk road money went on auction.

We all know how shady some exchanges are. They sell your data or leak it, they manipulate prices, fake volume, they get hacked, they get seized, they go bankrupt, they launder dirty money. When you buy at a government auction you get all the paperwork. You get legit bitcoin that nobody will seize from you and you get it in person right onto your hardware wallet if that's how you like it. People will pay premium for this.

[bgaf]

Are there special tax rules when buying these coins directly from the government? That could be a massive incentive for the bidders than doing large otc orders on large exchanges.

I'm thinking the same way too. There's a chance that those bidders will received something special or any privilege from winning the bids of btc. I doubt there is a trader who will join this affair instead they will wait on market price to crash and bid their buy orders there.

Do you think that this 4k btc also drive the btc price on its current level? Somehow btc is increasing since the Us government auction it last February 5.

Also I wonder why would US bid these bitcoins anyway for?

[bryant.coleman]

I have questions, what can you say about buying Bitcoin that was used in doing illegal activities? Does it have any differences with the usual thing we do? Does it have lesser value because it was from illegal activity or does it cost higher because of the bidding? And what does the government do after receiving money from the auction? Do they use it in a proper way or simply, do they add it to the government's asset?

Tim Draper, a major VC investor, bought 30,000 coins seized from the Silk Road. I'm sure he would have no trouble at all moving them on for just the same price as any other coin. They've basically been 'cleaned' by passing through government hands.

This lot don't release their sold prices. From hints from failed bidders it's usually slightly below the market rate but not significantly. It all depends on who turns up on the day to bid. The UK police recently did a public auction of seized BTC and the prices were more than the headline rate on average with a few exceptions where people clearly didn't understand the difference between BTC and BSV etc and radically overpaid.

https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2019/09/27/uk-police-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-criminally-seized-auction-ethereum-ripple-satoshi-vision/

Dunno where the money would go. Maybe back into their own budget. Who cares?

Tim Draper is the same guy who claimed that BTC will be eventually having an exchange rate of $250,000 per coin (the deadline he gave for achieving that level was 2022). The price that he paid for the 30,000 coins was never disclosed, but it was rumored that he (as well as the others who purchased Silk Road coins) paid a price which was higher than the prevailing exchange rate at that time. One reason given for the higher price was that the coins are now 100% clean, since they have been passed through the hands of the US Marshals.

[slaman29]

That's a lot of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin, I wonder why they didn't decide to at least try keep a little of it. Can't remember now but isn't there also a government somewhere with a lot of stash of seized btc that they supposedly haven't sold yet? Would be incredible revenue if the moonshot happens for btc!

[Dabs]

I'd say if you were going to buy that amount of bitcoin, you'd have the patience to spread the buy orders out over more than a few days.  People with lots of money do basically the same thing in the stock market all the time.  It's certainly possible to buy thousands of bitcoins without moving the market much--I think it would just take patience and tons of cash.

What you describe is sometimes executed as an Iceberg order.

You see only the tip of the iceberg. In the background is a bot that keeps putting up buy orders as they are executed. Since a bot does it, it can do this all day, putting up buy orders every 5 minutes, ... watching the order books and not putting in 10 million all at once.

If it's not a bot, it's a built in functionality of the exchange or brokerage or whatever you're using. I find that a bot works better since you control it, but if an exchange has that kind of thing in place, that's cool too.


As for buying at a premium, well, for one, you get government guaranteed coins, you don't need to mix them anymore as they are declared clean and anyone can trace it came from the auction. So, it can, in theory, be sold at a premium too, for those looking to buy so called "virgin" coins.

On the other hand, if you were just to HODL it, it's very clear you can declare the price you paid for it, and the price you would sell it later, and there'd be very little or no questions about the capital gains or taxes or anything of that sort.

One could take advantage of the gov coins, coin join them with a whole bunch of other coins gotten from other places or deals, and they'd all be considered as connected to the gov coins, and you could then sell them all later at profit. Or just hold on to them for the next ten years.

[DaveF]

That's a lot of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin, I wonder why they didn't decide to at least try keep a little of it. Can't remember now but isn't there also a government somewhere with a lot of stash of seized btc that they supposedly haven't sold yet? Would be incredible revenue if the moonshot happens for btc!

The US Government itself keeps very little of what they seize. Cars / boats / homes / gold toilets from rappers all go up for auction.
Small local and state governments may or may not keep stuff, but for the most part "cash is king" for the government.
Now, a lot of times they might use the car / boat / home  etc. as part of an investigation or undercover work but eventually most of it will wind up on the auction block.

-Dave

[FanEagle]

Lol funny how they always doing sh*t in the name of pulling down Bitcoin. Just when everyone is rejoicing about the halving and the price of Bitcoin going up, now these ones are talking about auctioning Bitcoin. So, after they have sold the Bitcoin what exactly is going to happen? Will it make the price to fall to a lower price? The price has been going up lately and Bitcoin already reached $9,700+ and it’s heading towards $10,000.

I strongly believe that if this action they are about to take now should cause some setbacks, the price will still pick up after the Halving and would start going up. I am not giving up yet, I will keep holding on to my coins no matter what.

[Dabs]

No one buying from this auction is going to get it below market price. It's an auction. People will bid. People like Tim Draper or any of the other big names or institutions are going to bid for it. It will be a price war. They will pay a premium.

So of course, they won't sell any until way after the halving, or at some price above what they bought it for.

Anyone who is bidding does not need the money anytime soon.

[ene1980]

The federal law enforcement agency will put an estimated 4,040 Bitcoin or an amount of (current value is $38,563,173).

Since this is an auction and not through exchanges i am not expecting the price to go down like some are expecting.

what can you say about buying Bitcoin that was used in doing illegal activities? Does it have any differences with the usual thing we do? Does it have lesser value because it was from illegal activity or does it cost higher because of the bidding? And what does the government do after receiving money from the auction? Do they use it in a proper way or simply, do they add it to the government's asset?

Since this is a legal proceeding there is nothing to worry about the tainted coins as in the future i am expecting anyone holding the tainted coins will be held responsible when regulations will be active. After the auction it will be submitted to the treasury as it is a public auction.
 

[bryant.coleman]

That's a lot of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin, I wonder why they didn't decide to at least try keep a little of it. Can't remember now but isn't there also a government somewhere with a lot of stash of seized btc that they supposedly haven't sold yet? Would be incredible revenue if the moonshot happens for btc!

I am afraid that they can't do that, under the current laws. Seized assets from the crime must be converted to cash and used for the proceedings. And this is not just applicable in the United States, but across the globe as well. Even in Japan, the Mt Gox bankruptcy trustee decided to sell most of the remaining coins, in order the compensate the victims of the crime. I heard that he has temporarily paused dumping the coins, but more than half of the recovered coins were already sold when that decision was made.

[Anonylz]

No one buying from this auction is going to get it below market price. It's an auction. People will bid. People like Tim Draper or any of the other big names or institutions are going to bid for it. It will be a price war. They will pay a premium.

So of course, they won't sell any until way after the halving, or at some price above what they bought it for.

Anyone who is bidding does not need the money anytime soon.

My feeling exactly,  except the opening bid price is relatively low only then would the bidder's be able to buy below market price, otherwise,  i bet the bid price is more higher than current price, and if that is the case i don't see how it can affect price,

This is a supposedly clean coin directly from the government,  am sure all the big players will strive to outbid their opponent, it is survival of the highest bidder, so definitely price won't be cheap.

[gentlemand]

Auction ends in a few minutes. As ever nothing has happened and nothing will happen. We may never find out what was paid either. That's down to the winner to declare it.

I'll be watching Yobit like a hawk in the coming days as I'm sure that's where those psychobear dumps will take place.

[bithisach]

I have questions, what can you say about buying Bitcoin that was used in doing illegal activities? Does it have any differences with the usual thing we do? Does it have lesser value because it was from illegal activity or does it cost higher because of the bidding? And what does the government do after receiving money from the auction? Do they use it in a proper way or simply, do they add it to the government's asset?

Tim Draper, a major VC investor, bought 30,000 coins seized from the Silk Road. I'm sure he would have no trouble at all moving them on for just the same price as any other coin. They've basically been 'cleaned' by passing through government hands.

This lot don't release their sold prices. From hints from failed bidders it's usually slightly below the market rate but not significantly. It all depends on who turns up on the day to bid. The UK police recently did a public auction of seized BTC and the prices were more than the headline rate on average with a few exceptions where people clearly didn't understand the difference between BTC and BSV etc and radically overpaid.

https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2019/09/27/uk-police-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-criminally-seized-auction-ethereum-ripple-satoshi-vision/

Dunno where the money would go. Maybe back into their own budget. Who cares?

Tim Draper is the same guy who claimed that BTC will be eventually having an exchange rate of $250,000 per coin (the deadline he gave for achieving that level was 2022). The price that he paid for the 30,000 coins was never disclosed, but it was rumored that he (as well as the others who purchased Silk Road coins) paid a price which was higher than the prevailing exchange rate at that time. One reason given for the higher price was that the coins are now 100% clean, since they have been passed through the hands of the US Marshals.

I've seen not just from him but from a lot of bitcoin followers this sentiment replicated, the fact that bitcoin will reach over $100k within the next few years.

I think the auction is not a great idea just out of how high the entry cost is, but it probably isn't aimed at regular people either so my opinion doesn't matter.

[Dabs]

Anyone who buys bitcoins from such an auction probably does not use yobit. Just a guess.

[gentlemand]

Anyone who buys bitcoins from such an auction probably does not use yobit. Just a guess.

That's my carefully engineered comment to reflect on the intellect of the people who write 'Omigod they buying millionz of coins to dump on us. We all gone die.'

There were a shit ton of those threads around the first Silk Road auction. Looks like it's still not a dead idea yet.

[Bohxz M4p4gm4h4l25]

Pretty sure the government would have their own reason needing money from an Auction but that amount of Bitcoin was pretty sick, and just like you, I don't have a thing for Bidding as well I don't have the knowledge in doing so, And the financial back-up to register, I guess if this Bitcoin would be bought by some normal consumer those Bitcoin will surely return in Circulation and I guess even though the Bitcoin was from some illegal transaction Bitcoin will still be Bitcoin whatever you think about it, I guess it is OK for me if I am the one who won that amount of Bitcoin the most important thing here is that 4040 BTC will be in good hands.

I agree with this. If those btcs will be recieve by a normal people, it will probably be back to circulation because they will probably be affected by the market panic and sell it when times are bad. There is nothing wrong about that because it was their money however they must know from the beggining that the amount of money they invest is the amount of money they are willing to loose.

[Dabs]

Doesn't make sense to buy from an auction at prices most likely higher than current market value, only to dump it. If that's the goal, they should just buy from an exchange. And dump it. Odd.

[1Referee]

Doesn't make sense to buy from an auction at prices most likely higher than current market value, only to dump it. If that's the goal, they should just buy from an exchange. And dump it. Odd.

Price movement-->>link to x/y/z event that took place just before or around the same time. This auction is a perfect smokescreen. People always do that.

The price went up quite a bit in the last couple of weeks without a decent correction from the top, so here we have that healthy correction. I would be worried if we go up without those corrections every now and then, and technically speaking, the weekly trend remains as bullish even if we have a brief dip below the $9000 level. People need to chill and be happy with those dips.

[gentlemand]

According to this - https://old.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/f6s07m/lone_bidder_purchased_3991_of_the_4041_btc/

One buyer bought 3991 of the 4041 BTC for sale. I presume the address is known rather than it being a pure guess. It hasn't hit Yobit yet but I'll be watching like a hawk.

[Dabs]

Naw.. it's going somewhere else... how many exchanges are there now, like, literally hundreds of them. ... not to mention all these other dice sites.

[fillippone]

Coins already on the move.

https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/3PCZgWkS6dp3hXkPDv7uqJpZgCcEThKiLZ

[kryptqnick]

Sorry if it's a bit off-topic considering the discussions above, but I've been wondering for a while: why does this money get auctioned rather than distributed back to the victims? If it was some illegal business and its profits, then auctioning seems to make sense (although the government could get rid of it on exchanges without making a fuss, right?). But what about the cases when exchanges got hacked or an ICO scams people? As far as I understand, even when the money's recovered by the officials, the people who lost it don't get it back. Is that true? If yes, why so? It does not feel just to me.

[gentlemand]

Sorry if it's a bit off-topic considering the discussions above, but I've been wondering for a while: why does this money get auctioned rather than distributed back to the victims? If it was some illegal business and its profits, then auctioning seems to make sense (although the government could get rid of it on exchanges without making a fuss, right?). But what about the cases when exchanges got hacked or an ICO scams people? As far as I understand, even when the money's recovered by the officials, the people who lost it don't get it back. Is that true? If yes, why so? It does not feel just to me.

All of these US auctions are from the proceeds of crime as far as I can tell.

Gox is the obvious alternative. People will get some money back eventually.

Other than that I've hardly ever heard of a hacked exchange having funds recovered from the person who hacked them, let alone given back to customers.

I seem to remember the UK police attempting to contact people who were on Mintpal to return funds to them but it seems like a pretty rare occurrence and that was straightforward recovery from the piece of shit who ran it.

As for BTC-e/Wex since it's in Russia it's not as if you're going to get any justice or honesty. Some seem to think the FSB helped themselves to that and it's probably impossible to tell which funds are honest and which were laundered anyway.