US Marshall's Bitcoin Auction Results

[LostDutchman]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-bitcoin-auction-20140627,0,1104979.story


By Nate Raymond Reuters

7:08 p.m. CDT, June 27, 2014

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Marshals Service on Friday auctioned off about 30,000 bitcoins seized during a raid on Silk Road, an Internet black-market bazaar where authorities say illegal drugs and other goods could be bought.

An online auction took place over a 12-hour period on Friday for the bitcoins, valued at nearly $17.7 million. It consisted of nine blocks of 3,000 bitcoins and one block of 2,657 bitcoins. The Marshals Service has said it would notify the winning bidders on Monday.

A spokeswoman for the Marshals Service declined to say how many bids the office received. Among those who said they registered to participate in the auctions were SecondMarket and Bitcoin Shop Inc.

Silk Road was shutdown after an FBI raid in September 2013 as agents took control of its server and arrested a Texas man, Ross Ulbricht, that the authorities said owned and operated the website.

The auction was for 29,655 bitcoins contained in files residing on its servers, which were forfeited in January.

Chris DeMuth, a partner at Rangeley Capital who had been considering bidding, said last week the chance the Marshals Service gets the market price for the bitcoins is low.

"Anyone could pay market prices on existing exchanges," he said. "So the key question is how much of a discount do bidders want."

The Marshals are holding about 144,342 additional bitcoins found on computer hardware belonging to Ulbricht that were subject to a civil forfeiture proceeding.

Ulbricht, 30, is scheduled to face trial Nov. 3. He has pleaded not guilty to the four counts against him, including money laundering conspiracy and engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.

U.S. authorities have separately charged three men - Andrew Jones, Gary Davis and Peter Nash - in connection with their alleged roles in assisting Ulbricht in operating Silk Road.

Bitcoin prices were up 3.1 percent Friday at $597.41 per coin, according to the digital currency exchange CoinDesk.


(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Andre Grenon)

Copyright © 2014, Reuters

[elrapido]

I think you made a mistake in the title by putting the word 'Results' in there.

[LostDutchman]

I think you made a mistake in the title by putting the word 'Results' in there.

Nope!

These are the results as relased so far by the government.

I guess Monday we'll find out the prices.

[EcuaMobi]

I hope we'll be able to see the results on Monday.

Probably it will be confidential, at least for a while until it's leaked. I'm really curious about the final price.

[suryc]

I hope we'll be able to see the results on Monday.

Probably it will be confidential, at least for a while until it's leaked. I'm really curious about the final price.

It won't be confidential. It is a matter of public record as it is with any asset auction by the DOJ.

[LostDutchman]

I hope we'll be able to see the results on Monday.

Probably it will be confidential, at least for a while until it's leaked. I'm really curious about the final price.

Nope!

Public record!

I will keep you posted!

Thank you for your kind post!

[LostDutchman]

I hope we'll be able to see the results on Monday.

Probably it will be confidential, at least for a while until it's leaked. I'm really curious about the final price.

It won't be confidential. It is a matter of public record as it is with any asset auction by the DOJ.

Exactly and thank you for your kind and informative post!

[ruletheworld]

Thanks for the post, look forward to the final results.
I think it's premature to assume that the price was at a discount to the market price on the exchanges.

[Light]

Probably it will be confidential, at least for a while until it's leaked. I'm really curious about the final price.

I'm expecting it simply to be somewhat below the current market price, considering that if you wanted to buy some you'd easily be able to do so at the current price, so having an auction wouldn't achieve anything. It's simply a question of how far below the market price and whether or not we'll see an increase in the supply of BTC following this or whether they'll just hoard it.

[EcuaMobi]

I hope we'll be able to see the results on Monday.

Probably it will be confidential, at least for a while until it's leaked. I'm really curious about the final price.

It won't be confidential. It is a matter of public record as it is with any asset auction by the DOJ.

Thank. I didn't know it's public.

Probably it will be confidential, at least for a while until it's leaked. I'm really curious about the final price.

I'm expecting it simply to be somewhat below the current market price, considering that if you wanted to buy some you'd easily be able to do so at the current price, so having an auction wouldn't achieve anything. It's simply a question of how far below the market price and whether or not we'll see an increase in the supply of BTC following this or whether they'll just hoard it.

Probably it will be below market.

But it's also possible that they considered the fact that buying 3k+ coins using an exchange would pump the market, so they'd had to pay well over current market price.

But let's wait until Monday and see.

[LostDutchman]

Thanks for the post, look forward to the final results.
I think it's premature to assume that the price was at a discount to the market price on the exchanges.

Gonna be interesting, anyway!

[ruletheworld]

Probably it will be confidential, at least for a while until it's leaked. I'm really curious about the final price.

I'm expecting it simply to be somewhat below the current market price, considering that if you wanted to buy some you'd easily be able to do so at the current price, so having an auction wouldn't achieve anything. It's simply a question of how far below the market price and whether or not we'll see an increase in the supply of BTC following this or whether they'll just hoard it.

Not true. If you wanted to buy 20,000 Bitcoin, there's no way you could buy them at the current price. An auction allows you to do exactly that. They could sell for a premium if all parties are interested in acquiring Bitcoin and not try to 'flip' them. It's not simply a matter of how far below the market price - it could very well be above it.

[DannyElfman]

Thanks for the post, look forward to the final results.
I think it's premature to assume that the price was at a discount to the market price on the exchanges.

I'd say it's true both ways. I have no idea how so many people seem so sure either way.

[Bit_Happy]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-bitcoin-auction-20140627,0,1104979.story

The title of the article is:
"U.S. auctions some 30,000 bitcoins from Silk Road raid"

Thank you for your informative post!  

... It's not simply a matter of how far below the market price - it could very well be above it.

Above market is my guess, since the big buyers didn't have to deal with unregulated exchanges.

[nextblast]

The title is so confusing...

[cuddaloreappu]

nice info...I wish they were actually auctioned at a price higher than market price

[WhatTheGox]

I think you made a mistake in the title by putting the word 'Results' in there.

Nope!

These are the results as relased so far by the government.

I guess Monday we'll find out the prices.

your title sucks ass

[rext]

nice info...I wish they were actually auctioned at a price higher than market price

doubt they will be able to

[haploid23]

This may or may not be relevant to the thread, but why did Ross Ulbricht give up his passphrase to the silkroad wallet? If the FBI won't allow him to ever access those bitcoins again, then delete the wallet. Why give them to the FBI? It's not even their right to profit off this.

[davida]

I have a feeling that once the sales price is announced it could trigger some big movement in bitcoin market price... Especially if the btc sells for over $18m total.