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US Marshals Auctioning $20M Worth of Silk Road's Bitcoins

Posted by Soulskill on from the all-about-the-bitjamins dept.

coondoggie writes: The U.S. Marshals office says it will auction off almost 50,000 bitcoins (about $20 million worth) seized from alleged Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht. The auction, which is the second sale of Silk Road's bitcoin collection, will take place during a 6-hour period on Dec. 4 from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. EST. Bids will be accepted by email from pre-registered bidders only, the U.S. Marshals office said. In June more than $17 million in bitcoins seized from the Silk Road take-down were auctioned off.

15 of 119 comments (clear)

  1. I wish they would just auction off the drugs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Do you know how hard it is to find quality MDMA?

    It's fucking impossible. Unless you want shitty speed you need a really good connection, which I sadly can't find.

  2. Payment methods by dysmal · · Score: 5, Funny

    Will they accept bitcoins?

  3. But the case hasn't even started! by Chaos+Incarnate · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, his trial hasn't even started yet, but they're already auctioning off what they seized as part of the investigation.

    There's sleazy, and then there's the U.S. Marshals.

    --
    Benford's Corollary to Clarke's Law: "Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced."
    1. Re:But the case hasn't even started! by i+kan+reed · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Bitcoins were deemed to be regulated as currency, and thus the remuneration the US government might owe the defendants can be delivered in US dollars, should the property not be found to be forfeit.

    2. Re:But the case hasn't even started! by i+kan+reed · · Score: 4, Informative

      If it were a debt you owed, they'd be legally obligated to take it. If payment is a condition of keeping your space, it's not.

      Once they evict you, and send you a bill for past-due rent, they have to take cash.

    3. Re:But the case hasn't even started! by Zeio · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I agree here. This is the actions of a police state. Its quite disturbing to see complete forfeiture of assets without a trial taking place. I know normally tycoons and other scum like Madhoff and Ken Lay deserve to be tarred and feathered and pilloried for their crimes against society and shareholders, but who exactly was DAMAGED by Silk Road? Did all of the buyers receive their goods? If so, what is the DAMAGE?

      How does the government have standing to claim silk road DAMAGED all those buyers?

      Why doesnt the government go after Jack Ma and Alibaba? (As in they block those transactions and forbid buying off that fraud-racket-exchange)? Alibaba sells stolen fraudulent broken junk that is masqueraded as legitimate (its basically a crime mall) but we let that go and shut down silk road and seize all assets? Doesnt make sense. Criminal rackets operate eyes wide shut but it seems the Fedzilla is only angry that they couldnt collect tax off these transactions in which case he should be sued for that money.

      Total forfeiture seems out of the bounds of due process.

      --
      Legalize the constitution. Think for yourself question authority.
    4. Re:But the case hasn't even started! by i+kan+reed · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You know, I'm feeling a little wary of that +4 Informative I got.

      I'm not a lawyer, and I could be misconstruing the law, which says

      United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. Foreign gold or silver coins are not legal tender for debts.

      It could be the concept of "legal tender" is way more complex than I'm giving it credit for. It's certainly the case that people have gotten in legal trouble for paying in nothing but pennies, for example.

    5. Re:But the case hasn't even started! by dywolf · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The trial against the bitcoins, US Government VS 50,000 Bitcoins, was decided already.

      The bitcoins failed to hire a lawyer in their defense, and it's not like they couldn't afford one so there was no need to provide one for them.

      Ah...the joys of civil forfeiture.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  4. Another word for robbery by canadiannomad · · Score: 5, Informative

    Civil Asset Forfeiture

    --
    Hmm, the humour and sarcasm seem to have been be lost on you.
  5. Re:What a moron! by KiloByte · · Score: 4, Insightful

    He had 20 mil worth of Bitcoins? He should have sold them all himself and then fled the country.

    Unlike the US marshals, Dread Pirate Roberts has a sense of decency.

    --
    The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
  6. Here's my offer by ArcadeMan · · Score: 3, Funny

    Dear U.S. Marshals, I am prepared to offer TEN Dogecoins for each ONE Bitcoin.

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  7. But the case hasn't even started! by slashdice · · Score: 5, Informative

    They're being auctioned off, with agreement from Ross Ulbricht, due to the volatility of BTC. There will be a separate civil forfeiture trial later.

    --
    Copyright (c) 1990 - 2014 Dice. All rights reserved. Use of this comment is subject to certain Terms and Conditions.
  8. Re:What a moron! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No, people using his website had 20 mil in btc. Unlike the feds, DPR did not steal anyone's coins to enrich himself.

    The feds robbed the users of this popular eCommerce site, and pointed to archaic prohibition laws as a justification for their theft. The US government has been at war with its own citizens for far too long, and needs to be stripped of its power to harm peaceful people.

  9. Re:What a moron! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Oh, that made me laugh. I can set up a website to sell handguns to convicted felons and murderers with no paperwork. To top it off, it would be 100% legal.

    You should read the law, it is amazing what you learn. For example, the working replica of an 1861 naval revolver requires no paperwork, no registration, can be sold online, and can be shipped to anywhere in the US.

    And for the record, I sold gray area items on silk road. Things that you can legally sell, however CC merchant accounts, paypal, google pay, etc. will not let you process the payments. The used of bitcoin and the anonymity of SR allowed me to make a lot of money at it.

    They sold more than drugs on silk road and there were quite a few legal/gray area items available.

  10. How much more screw up can our government get? by Puls4r · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So, rather than just selling them on the exchanges, they're pricing them in huge blocks that only the wealthy can afford. I mean seriously, how many folks here have $150k burning a hole in their pocket that they want to plunk down for some bitcoin? I truly hate our government. These bitcoins are going to be sold a huge (unrealized) loss to the wealthy, who are going to turn a giant profit. Fantastic. No wonder it's 'closed' bidding.