Auction proceeds - 50,000 BTC is a shitload

[DGulari]

Our brilliant government sold 50,000 BTC.  The police will use this money to buy more equipment that makes them feel very badass and so they look extremely tough and 'ready' before all their peers.



But wouldn't it have been better if they made a nice brief application process whereby any university student could write a one page essay on what he'd do with 10BTC.  They could then award 5000 prizes to aspiring college kids.  If we had 5000 college kids each who had 10BTC for doing something interesting with it, we'd have motivated a tremendous force for good development.

Instead, we have more stupid cops with more fancy looking riot gear and badass looking kit to impress themselves.  The badge is so out of control in America.  Cops are so full of themselves shooting everyone who utters slight resistance.  Cops are just looking to pull the trigger - and now they have $13 million more to spend on new triggers due to Ross Ulbricht and bad politics.  What a joke.

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[Lethn]

You appear to have picked a photograph of a bunch of men playing airsoft, look at the helmet on the right, but yes, there are plenty of better things that money could be spent on, like hospitals, if America spent even half their military budget on healthcare they'd have more advanced hospitals than Japan.

[Cult]

You appear to have picked a photograph of a bunch of men playing airsoft, look at the helmet on the right.

Wow, these guys take airsoft really serious, equipment looks expensive!

[thompete]

You appear to have picked a photograph of a bunch of men playing airsoft, look at the helmet on the right.

lol . Also, I wonder why don't all the silk road masterminds, do their business of running the site offshore. 50,000 BTC is definitely a shitload, and I wonder, why does all the money go only to the US government.

[L]

You appear to have picked a photograph of a bunch of men playing airsoft, look at the helmet on the right.

lol . Also, I wonder why don't all the silk road masterminds, do their business of running the site offshore. 50,000 BTC is definitely a shitload, and I wonder, why does all the money go only to the US government.

LOL, that's a great point!

See it this way, if the USA government is into the bitcoin business, bitcoin is as legit as it gets.

[arvindr]

Well this is just 50,000 BTC. I believe the previous 2 auctions were when the price was a bit higher, and that was more crazy amount than this one.

[josef2000]

50 000 btc isnt much for a government.
China holds the most bitcoins as a government. They might be able to buy all weapons etc on the world if they sell all their bitcoins they have

[BitCoinNutJob]

Instead, we have more stupid cops with more fancy looking riot gear and badass looking kit to impress themselves.  The badge is so out of control in America.  Cops are so full of themselves shooting everyone who utters slight resistance.  Cops are just looking to pull the trigger - and now they have $13 million more to spend on new triggers due to Ross Ulbricht and bad politics.  What a joke.

It sucks but not much considering how much they are forcing the nation to pay on a regular basis via taxes.

[subcoin]

But wouldn't it have been better if...

Better for who? It would certainly better for Bitcoin.
But would it be better for government? Of course not.

On the same note... why would government do ANYTHING better for Bitcoin?
They are very dependent on dollar and powers it brings them.
You want them just to give it up and use something they have no control over...
Yeah, right, not happening.

[oblivi]

You appear to have picked a photograph of a bunch of men playing airsoft, look at the helmet on the right, but yes, there are plenty of better things that money could be spent on, like hospitals, if America spent even half their military budget on healthcare they'd have more advanced hospitals than Japan.

If they used that money to buy airsoft equipment and have some fun it would still be better spent than buying real weapons to use against real people.

[duckydonald]

if the buys were smart they can all be rich if they n  agreed, not to ooutbid each other, then split  at the end. also fuck the gov over, they will make no profit.

[micky123]

There could be a silver lining in all the gloom and doom that we see here .

That silver lining is: Bitcoin cannot be made illegal now that the US has "legitimately" dumped more than a 100K bitcoin (correct me if i am wrong). Apparently the USMS still hold 44k bitcoins in their possession. Until they sell these 44K Bitcoin we can rest assured that they cannot make it illegal. After dumping the last 44K they may still make it illegal, but we are safe for another 6 months anyhow .

I know that many people will disagree with the fact that i choose to say that the US will ban bitcoin, but once they sell all their holdings, your guess is as good as mine whether they would make btc illegal or not.
There is still a social stigma attached to Bitcoin even today. If i talk about Bitcoin in India (That's where i am from) people look at me like i am a criminal and many even consider it to be taboo in India. SR has damaged Bitcoin in the eyes of the common man and more so in India. because of the conservative outlook of the people here.

[Beliathon]

China holds the most bitcoins as a government. They might be able to buy all weapons etc on the world if they sell all their bitcoins they have

Thanks for the belly laugh, friend. I think you're grossly underestimating the quantity of and value of "all weapons on Earth".

[Alexis]

if the buys were smart they can all be rich if they n  agreed, not to ooutbid each other, then split  at the end. also fuck the gov over, they will make no profit.

Problem is:

17 bidders might agree to bid 100$ a bitcoin.
1 bidder doesn't agree (or says he agrees), and then bids $200.

I know which bidder I would like to be.

And also the US marshalls reserve the right to not sell, if they deem the bids unreasonable.

[BitcoinFr34k]

The 50k BTC is actually subject to civil litigation with Ross so the government will not necessarily get to actually spend any of that money. If they do win in court then the proceeds will make their way to the general government budget.

While your proposals do sound "good" on paper, there is no real reason to be giving people all that free shit in exchange for nothing. If you give away money or services or goods (despite how necessary they are) then you are taking away incentives for people to work

[jertsy]

The 50k BTC is actually subject to civil litigation with Ross so the government will not necessarily get to actually spend any of that money. If they do win in court then the proceeds will make their way to the general government budget.

While your proposals do sound "good" on paper, there is no real reason to be giving people all that free shit in exchange for nothing. If you give away money or services or goods (despite how necessary they are) then you are taking away incentives for people to work

Ross admitted starting the silk road in court, but claimed he sold it to someone else. That alone will probably lose him the civil litigation case.

[BitcoinFr34k]

The 50k BTC is actually subject to civil litigation with Ross so the government will not necessarily get to actually spend any of that money. If they do win in court then the proceeds will make their way to the general government budget.

While your proposals do sound "good" on paper, there is no real reason to be giving people all that free shit in exchange for nothing. If you give away money or services or goods (despite how necessary they are) then you are taking away incentives for people to work

Ross admitted starting the silk road in court, but claimed he sold it to someone else. That alone will probably lose him the civil litigation case.

The bitcoin in question are from his laptop. He claims they are his personal bitcoin that he acquired from trading and from being an early miner. Although the bitcoin found on his laptop is likely from "cold" storage from SR (it really isn't cold, but it is separate from the SR servers). He didn't personally admit to founding SR, his lawyer said that he did in statements, there is a difference.

[koelen3]

How could you even consider that , don't forget , it's our government .
It is not for us . 

[QuestionAuthority]

I bet the Feds are happy marijuana is legal in Colorado. Now they have someplace to sell their stolen weed instead of just burning it.