Silk Road Bitcoin Auction Winner Tim Draper Won't Say How Much He Paid

[ArticMine]

well, this is the first of more auctions by fbi
they have another 110k bitcoin approx?

why show his hand when he will want to buy again at future auctions one would imagine

future bidders now know lowballing will get them nowhere and they will have to buy on open market discreetly and keep price down (whats going on now) and will have to outbid serious people and funds in auction format

It's 144,000: https://blockchain.info/address/1i7cZdoE9NcHSdAL5eGjmTJbBVqeQDwgw

I wouldn't count on an auction for these anytime soon, if ever. A motion has been filed for them to be returned to their rightful owner, who knows how long that will take. Even if he is found guilty, they will still have to prove that the coins were actually proceeds from Silk Road. Remember, Ross was a fairly early adopter, it is entirely possible that he could have bought them, or even mined them himself. Silk Road launched in February 2011, and he surely didn't think the project up, and create it in just a couple days. I would think it took him several months from inception to launch, and remember, just six months before SR's debut, one could've bought 144,000 Bitcoin for probably less than $5000.

Not saying that this is what happened, just saying it's a definite possibility that he could've in fact acquired some, or all of those coins legitimately. After all, he did start the first legitimate Bitcoin Market with hedging and escrow. You probably wouldn't do that holding little to no Bitcoin.

+1 Those coins will be tied up in the courts for years. Even if the US government eventually prevails after years of litigation they could then even be worth more that the US government’s official gold reserves.

[allthingsluxury]

I don't see any benefit to why he would, or why he should disclose this information.

[taylortyler]

He must have paid above market rate at the time of the auction and below the current market rate (ie, between $570 and $650). If he discloses his below current market rate bid, bitcoin price will fall towards his bid level. His new fortune will shrink by millions in fiat terms.

This has to be it.

[ixne]

He must have paid above market rate at the time of the auction and below the current market rate (ie, between $570 and $650). If he discloses his below current market rate bid, bitcoin price will fall towards his bid level. His new fortune will shrink by millions in fiat terms.

This has to be it.

Actually, that is complete nonsense.  We know from failed bids that he paid more than $675.  Even if he had got the coins below market rate, he could not sell them without crashing the market and losing money overall.  And this isn't his "new fortune." He already had a fortune, he just exchanged it for bitcoin.

Finally, he's already publicly discussed his plans for the coins.  He is a professional.  He didn't get control of millions of dollars formulating the sort of ridiculous conspiracy-laden get-rich-quick schemes that everyone on this forum seems to be obsessed with.

[nextblast]

I think it should be definitely higher than market value.

[poncom]

We know from failed bids that he paid more than $675.

Can you give a link to where it says he paid more than $675 please? The only definite bid price I could find was $403 from one bidder. I could not find definite bid prices from any of the other bidders.

[Denise520]

Maybe that suspense is.

[LouReed]

well, this is the first of more auctions by fbi
they have another 110k bitcoin approx?

why show his hand when he will want to buy again at future auctions one would imagine

future bidders now know lowballing will get them nowhere and they will have to buy on open market discreetly and keep price down (whats going on now) and will have to outbid serious people and funds in auction format

It's 144,000: https://blockchain.info/address/1i7cZdoE9NcHSdAL5eGjmTJbBVqeQDwgw

I wouldn't count on an auction for these anytime soon, if ever. A motion has been filed for them to be returned to their rightful owner, who knows how long that will take. Even if he is found guilty, they will still have to prove that the coins were actually proceeds from Silk Road. Remember, Ross was a fairly early adopter, it is entirely possible that he could have bought them, or even mined them himself. Silk Road launched in February 2011, and he surely didn't think the project up, and create it in just a couple days. I would think it took him several months from inception to launch, and remember, just six months before SR's debut, one could've bought 144,000 Bitcoin for probably less than $5000.

Not saying that this is what happened, just saying it's a definite possibility that he could've in fact acquired some, or all of those coins legitimately. After all, he did start the first legitimate Bitcoin Market with hedging and escrow. You probably wouldn't do that holding little to no Bitcoin.

+1 Those coins will be tied up in the courts for years. Even if the US government eventually prevails after years of litigation they could then even be worth more that the US government’s official gold reserves.

LOL, yep, and then the USD value will be based on Bitcoin instead of gold, so they'll probably hodl em! 

[fluidjax]

Though I don't agree with blacklisted/whitelisting coins. The coins sold in the auction are guaranteed 'clean',  to some people this reduces a risk and therefore gives them more value. So comparing them with the market price is not a direct comparison as the product is slightly different.

[InwardContour]

We know from failed bids that he paid more than $675.

Can you give a link to where it says he paid more than $675 please? The only definite bid price I could find was $403 from one bidder. I could not find definite bid prices from any of the other bidders.

AFAIK there are no links to the amount of the winning bid as it has not been announced. Anyone that says otherwise is simply spreading rumors.